Evaluation of Sleep Disorders, Depression and Related Factors in Patients with Tension-type Headache

Objective: Sleep disorder is important in etiology of tension-type headache (TTH). Pain affects many stages of sleep and disrupts sleep quality. Also, psychogenic factors affect sleep quality. So, sleep quality, depression and daytime sleepiness were investigated in TTH. Material and Methods: Fifty TTH patients and 40 controls were included to study. Pain frequency, duration, severity, amount of analgesic and response to treatment were questioned. Visual Pain Scale (VAS) was used for pain severity. Age, sex, marital status, living environment, smoking and alcohol use, education, financial status, weight and height were evaluated. Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Beck Depression Scale (BDI) and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) were made. PSQI was divided into 3 groups as 0-5, 6-10 and above 10. The results were evaluated with SPSS Windows 16 version. Results: 50 patients (42 females, 8 males) were included to study. Mean±SD results: age 37.92±14.18; length 162.2±7.91; weight 69.96±15.2; PSQI 12.26±6.05; BDI 31.12±15.43 and ESS 9.34±4.80. Sleep duration, latency and disorder, drug count and PSQI were higher in patients (p<0.01). Sleep quality, daytime sleepiness, BDI and ESS scores were similar (p>0.05). There was no relationship between sociodemographic characteristics, pain severity, analgesic use and sleep disorder (p>0.05). There was a positive correlation between BDI and sleep disorder and daytime sleepiness (p<0.05; r=0.57; 0.52). Conclusion: Sleep disorder is higher in patients with TTH. As depressive condition increases, sleep disorder and daytime sleepiness increase. Therefore, it is important to question sleep disorder and depression in these patients.