ABSTRACT
Background & Objective: Tension-type headache (TTH) is the most common primary headache. TTH worsens quality of life and is related to various psychosocial factors. We aimed to examine the severity of headache (intensity, frequency, and duration), analgesic use, quality of life (QoL), and the impact of COVID pandemic-induced stress in TTH patients. Method(s): TTH cases seen at neurology outpatient clinics in 15 centers in Turkey were included in the study. A questionnaire incorporating sociodemographic and medical information, headache features, sleep quality, general quality of life, and impact of the pandemic event was administered to the subjects. Result(s): A total of 975 TTH patients were evaluated. Headache severity was higher in women as well as in patients with a history of COVID-19 contact. Women, those with chronic diseases, and cases with a COVID-19 contact history had worse perceptions of quality of life and were affected to a greater extent by the pandemic. The factors affecting the impact of the pandemic were female gender and difficulty in access to health services for headache. Co-existing chronic diseases and lost productive time due to headaches were negative determinants for both QoL and the impact of the pandemic. Conclusion(s): Our results show that the COVID pandemic severely worsened the headache burden, quality of life and mental health of TTH patients. These findings can guide us in the clinical approach to TTH cases. Copyright © 2022, ASEAN Neurological Association. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Background and aims: The COVID-19 pandemic became a challenge to maintain care for patients with idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH). We aimed to find out how they were affected during lockdown. Methods: 30 IIH patients admitted to hospital during the COVID-19 pandemic were studied. Their demographic, neuro-ophthalmologic findings were evaluated. World Health Organization-5 Well-Being Index (WHO-5), The EUROHIS-QOL 8-item index, National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEI-VFQ-25), Headache Impact Test (HIT-6), Covid-19 Anxiety Scale were used to assess QoL and pandemic associated anxiety. Age, sex and body mass index (BMI) matched volunteers constituted the control group. Results: Apart from the Covid-19 Anxiety Scale and the NEI-VFQ-25 color vision subscale, all test scores were impaired in IIH patients. General vision, distance vision and social function subscale scores of the NEI-VFQ-25 were lower in patients with low visual acuity (logMAR 0.1). Patients with perimetric MD 9 and papilledema grade three had higher HIT-6 scores than patients with perimetric MD<9 and papilledema grade <3. Conclusion: Both vision-specific and overall QOL was reduced in patients with IIH. Headache disability was more prominent in patients with severe clinical features of raised intracranial pressure. Anxiety caused by COVID pandemic was not different from the healthy controls.