Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Oct 7;44(6):611-620.
doi: 10.47626/1516-4446-2021-2367.

Changes in the rest-activity rhythm in migraine patients are associated with anxiety symptoms

Mírian C M M David  1 , Marina S B Mattos  2 , Jandirlly J S Souto  3 , Sarah A C F Brito  2 , Etcheverry S Leite  2 , Eduardo N Valença  4 , Gilma S Galdino  2 , Patrick G G Sampaio  5 , Daniel M C Moura  5 , Mário A L Miguel  6 , John F Araújo  6 , Carlúcia I F Franco  2 , Rhowena J B Matos  7
Affiliations

Changes in the rest-activity rhythm in migraine patients are associated with anxiety symptoms

Mírian C M M David et al. Braz J Psychiatry. .

Abstract

Objective: To characterize rest-activity rhythm in chronic migraine (CM) and to investigate the relationship between this rhythm and depressive and anxiety symptoms in patients with CM.

Methods: This was a study of adults aged 20 to 40 years. The rest-activity rhythm of patients with CM (n=23) and non-headache controls (NH, n=23) was assessed by actigraphy for 15 days, and they completed the following assessments: Visual Analogue Scale for pain intensity; Headache Diary; Headache Impact Test-6; Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire; Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index; Epworth Sleepiness Scale; Beck Depression Inventory; and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.

Results: Patients with CM showed less activity over 24 hours and more fragmented sleep. Reduced interdaily stability of the rest-activity rhythm was observed, with less robustness of this rhythm in the CM group. Multiple linear regressions revealed a significant association between the rest-activity rhythm and trait anxiety variables in patients with CM, specifically regarding the relative amplitude of the cycle, activity throughout 24 hours and during sleep, and robustness of the rest-activity rhythm.

Conclusions: Our findings provide evidence that the robustness of the rest-activity rhythm, activity throughout 24 hours, and sleep fragmentation are associated with trait anxiety in patients with CM.

Keywords: Chronic migraine; anxiety; circadian rhythm; depression; sleep.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Study design. CM = chronic migraine; NH = non-headache.
Figure 2
Figure 2. Profile of anxiety and depression symptoms in individuals with and without chronic migraine. BDI = Beck Depression Inventory; CM = chronic migraine; STAI = State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; S = State; (+) = Positive affirmations (the higher the scores on the positive components of the STAI, the greater the losses regarding them); (-) = Negative statements; T = Trait. Shapiro-Wilk test for normality; Mann-Whitney test, ** p < 0.01. Results expressed as mean and SD, considering the NH (n=23) and CM (n=23) groups.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Rammohan K, Mundayadan SM, Das S, Shaji CV. Migraine and mood disorders: prevalence, clinical correlations, and disability. J Neurosci Rural Pract. 2019;10:28–33. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Finan PH, Smith MT. The comorbidity of insomnia, chronic pain, and depression: dopamine as a putative mechanism. Sleep Med Rev. 2013;17:173–83. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pires GN, Bezerra AG, Tufik S, Andersen ML. Effects of acute sleep deprivation on state anxiety levels: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med. 2016;24:109–18. - PubMed
    1. Uhlig BL, Engstrøm M, Ødegård SS, Hagen KK, Sand T. Headache and insomnia in population-based epidemiological studies. Cephalalgia. 2014;34:745–51. - PubMed
    1. Lin YK, Lin GY, Lee JT, Lee MS, Tsai CK, Hsu YW, et al. Associations between sleep quality and migraine frequency: a cross-sectional case-control study. Medicine (Baltimore) 2016;95:e3554. - PMC - PubMed