ArticleHeadache
Clinical Pain Catastrophizing in Women With Migraine and Obesity.
Article in Headache. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 34 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
34 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 71 citations in OpenAlex.
- Adults with excess weight or obesity, but not with overweight, report greater pain intensities than individuals with normal weight: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2024Pooled it
- Psychological transdiagnostic factors and migraine characteristics as predictors of migraine-related disability.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Trial
- Treatment effects on pain catastrophizing and cutaneous allodynia symptoms in women with migraine and overweight/obesity.Health psychology : official journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association · 2020Trial
- Mapping Review on Characteristics of Publications on Modifiable Psychosocial Factors in Headache Diseases.Current pain and headache reports · 2026Review
- Article
- Exploring the relationship between pain catastrophizing and migraine in youth: A longitudinal clinical cohort study.Headache · 2025Article
- Pain Coping in Patients With Chronic Migraine and Medication Overuse Headache.Brain and behavior · 2025Article
- Regional and whole-brain neurofunctional alterations during pain empathic processing of physical but not affective pain in migraine patients.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
- The impact of fear of attacks on pain-related disability in cluster headache: Insights from the fear avoidance model.Headache · 2025Article
- Role of Psychological Factors in Migraine.Cureus · 2024Review
- Incorporating Therapeutic Education and Exercise in Migraine Management: A Biobehavioral Approach.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Multimodal digital health treatments for Chronic Migraine associated with Medication Overuse Headache: a literature appraisal and results of a single-arm open trial (the BE-HOME program).Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Article
- Article
- Observational
- Intensive Mindfulness Meditation Reduces Frequency and Burden of Migraine: An Unblinded Single-Arm Trial.Mindfulness · 2023Article
- Observational
- Do catastrophizing and autonomic-reduced flexibility mediate pain outcomes in chronic headache?Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Article
- Headache disability, lifestyle factors, health perception, and mental disorder symptoms: a cross-sectional analysis of the 2013 National Health Survey in Brazil.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2022Article
- Refractory migraine profile in CGRP-monoclonal antibodies scenario.Acta neurologica Scandinavica · 2021Article
- Slowly repeated evoked pain (SREP) as a central sensitization marker in episodic migraine patients.Scientific reports · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
OBJECTIVE/
backgroundObesity is related to migraine. Maladaptive pain coping strategies (eg, pain catastrophizing) may provide insight into this relationship. In women with migraine and obesity, we cross-sectionally assessed: (1) prevalence of clinical catastrophizing; (2) characteristics of those with and without clinical catastrophizing; and (3) associations of catastrophizing with headache features.
methodsObese women migraineurs seeking weight loss treatment (n = 105) recorded daily migraine activity for 1 month via smartphone and completed the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). Clinical catastrophizing was defined as total PCS score ≥30. The six-item Headache Impact Test (HIT-6), 12-item Allodynia Symptom Checklist (ASC-12), Headache Management Self-Efficacy Scale (HMSE), and assessments for depression (Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) and anxiety (seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale) were also administered. Using PCS scores and body mass index (BMI) as predictors in linear regression, we modeled a series of headache features (ie, headache days, HIT-6, etc) as outcomes.
resultsOne quarter (25.7%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 17.2-34.1%) of participants met criteria for clinical catastrophizing: they had higher BMI (37.9 ± 7.5 vs 34.4 ± 5.7 kg/m(2) , P = .035); longer migraine attack duration (160.8 ± 145.0 vs 97.5 ± 75.2 hours/month, P = .038); higher HIT-6 scores (68.7 ± 4.6 vs 64.5 ± 3.9, P < .001); more allodynia (7.0 ± 4.1 vs 4.5 ± 3.5, P < .003), depression (25.4 ± 12.4 vs 13.3 ± 9.2, P < .001), and anxiety (11.0 ± 5.2 vs 5.6 ± 4.1, P < .001); and lower self-efficacy (80.1 ± 25.6 vs 104.7 ± 18.9, P < .001) compared with participants without clinical catastrophizing. The odds of chronic migraine were nearly fourfold greater in those with (n = 8/29.6%) vs without (n = 8/10.3%) clinical catastrophizing (odds ratio = 3.68; 95%CI = 1.22-11.10, P = .021). In all participants, higher PCS scores were related to more migraine days (β = 0.331, P = .001), longer attack duration (β = 0.390, P < .001), higher HIT-6 scores (β = 0.425, P < .001), and lower HMSE scores (β = -0.437, P < .001). Higher BMI, but not higher PCS scores, was related to more frequent attacks (β = -0.203, P = .044).
conclusionsOne quarter of participants with migraine and obesity reported clinical catastrophizing. These individuals had more frequent attacks/chronicity, longer attack duration, higher pain sensitivity, greater headache impact, and lower headache management self-efficacy. In all participants, PCS scores were related to several migraine characteristics, above and beyond the effects of obesity. Prospective studies are needed to determine sequence and mechanisms of relationships between catastrophizing, obesity, and migraine.
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