BOSTON—The relationship of headache to traumatic events that occurred during military service may be different than the relationship of headache to other traumatic experiences, according to new research presented at the International Headache Congress 2013 meeting.
In light of the fact that veterans of military service in Iraq and Afghanistan have high rates of headache, trauma, and post-traumatic stress, researchers sought to determine whether the relationship between trauma and headache is independent of post-traumatic stress or if this relationship occurs primarily in the context of post-traumatic stress.
Elizabeth K. Seng, PhD, of the VA Connecticut Healthcare System in West Haven, and colleagues examined cross-sectional survey data from the Women Veterans Cohort Study. Participants were recruited through mailings sent to 8,465 veterans of military service in Iraq and Afghanistan now living in New England, Indiana, and Illinois, and through flyers in Connecticut and Indiana. A total of 693 veterans completed the baseline survey from July 2008 to December 2011. Of those, 551 veterans (228 male, 323 female) responded to the study inclusion item, ‘‘During the past 12 months, have you taken prescription medication for headaches,’’ which is nonspecific to headache type and identifies clinically significant headache. Measures included PTSD symptoms (Post-traumatic Stress Disorder Checklist, Military Version) and trauma (Traumatic Life Events Questionnaire, Combat Exposure Scale, and military sexual trauma [sexual harassment and rape]).
Among the 139 veterans who reported taking prescription headache medication in the prior year, a higher number of lifetime traumas was associated with higher odds of taking prescription medication. A greater number of childhood and adulthood interpersonal traumas were both associated with higher odds of taking prescription headache medication. Post-traumatic stress symptoms mediated both of these associations.
“We saw that neither combat trauma nor rape was associated with taking a prescription headache medication,” said Dr. Seng. “We found that military sexual harassment was associated with decreased odds of taking prescription headache medication.”
The authors reported preliminary evidence suggesting that post-traumatic stress symptoms may play an important role in the relationship between psychologically traumatic events and headache and that the relationship between traumatic events occurring during military service and headache may differ from the relationship between other traumatic events and headache.