MMPI patterns in chronic muscle pain, tension headache, and migraine

Abstract

MMPI personality profiles were obtained from three clinical groups (n = 79). One group consisted of men and women with chronic muscle pain (MP; n = 34), a second group of male and female chronic tension headache patients (TH; n = 12), and a third group of female migraine patients (M; n = 33). The M group was subdivided on the basis of source of referral and into groups of classic versus common migraine. Elevation of the MMPI subscales usually interpreted as neuroticism scales were found in all groups. A "psychosomatic V" pattern was found on these scales in the M group but not in female TH patients. The difference in scale configuration between groups was caused primarily by different elevations on the depression scale. A relationship between severity of headache and elevation of the "psychosomatic V" was found in migraine patients. Male MP and TH patients showed a descending slope on the neuroticism scales, not observed in females. There was a tendency for common migraine patients to show a more elevated and psychosomatic configuration on the MMPI, as compared with classic migraine patients.