Are migraine and tension-type headache diagnostic types or points on a severity continuum? An exploration of the latent taxometric structure of headache.

The objective of this study was to assess whether migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) are best viewed as discrete entities or points on a severity continuum using taxometric analysis. Historically, classification systems have conceptualized the primary headache disorders of migraine and TTH as fundamentally different disorders that are differentiated by their characteristic symptom profiles and, as such, imply differing pathophysiologies and required treatments. Despite this categorical nosology, findings continue to emerge suggesting that migraine and TTH instead reflect dimensions of severity within the same headache construct.

Attentional strategy moderates effects of pain catastrophizing on symptom-specific physiological responses in chronic low back pain patients.

In the present study, we examined whether experimentally-manipulated attentional strategies moderated relations between pain catastrophizing and symptom-specific physiological responses to a cold-pressor task among sixty-eight chronic low back patients. Patients completed measures of pain catastrophizing and depression, and were randomly assigned to sensory focus, distraction or suppression conditions during a cold pressor. Lumbar paraspinal and trapezius EMG, and cardiovascular responses to the cold pressor were assessed.

The predictive value of abbreviated migraine diagnostic criteria.

Objective: To determine the operating characteristics and predictive value of abbreviated criteria for the diagnosis of migraine headache.

Background: The International Headache Society (IHS) diagnostic criteria for migraine have been adopted in limited fashion in clinical practice. Primary care physicians in particular deal with innumerable conditions and diagnostic algorithms.

Patterns of pain descriptor usage in African Americans and European Americans with chronic pain.

This study examined ethnic differences in the use of pain descriptors, comparing standardized pain assessment data from African American and European American patients with heterogeneous chronic pain syndromes. The measure was the Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-MPQ) including the embedded Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Exploratory factor analyses of SF-MPQ data identified differences in factor structure with the VAS loading on a different factor for each group.