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Alexithymic characteristics in pediatric patients with primary headache: a comparison between migraine and tension-type headache

Overview of attention for article published in The Journal of Headache and Pain, November 2015
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Title
Alexithymic characteristics in pediatric patients with primary headache: a comparison between migraine and tension-type headache
Published in
The Journal of Headache and Pain, November 2015
DOI 10.1186/s10194-015-0572-y
Pubmed ID
Authors

M. Gatta, C. Spitaleri, U. Balottin, A. Spoto, L. Balottin, S. Mangano, P.A. Battistella

Abstract

Alexithymia is a personality construct characterized by difficulties in verbal emotional expression and a limited ability to use one's imagination. Evidence of alexithymic characteristics was found in adults suffering from headache, while little is known about children. The aim of this study was to establish the prevalence of alexithymia in two different subgroups of children and adolescents suffering from primary headache. We also looked for correlation between alexithymia in children and in their mothers. This study involved 89 participants: 47 (11 males, 36 females, aged 8 to 17 years) suffering from tension-type headache (TTH), and 42 (18 males, 24 females, aged 8 to 17 years) suffering from migraine (M), based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD 2013). A control group of 32 headache-free subjects (26 females and 6 males, aged 8 to17 years) was also considered. Two questionnaires were administered to measure alexithymia: the Alexithymia Questionnaire for Children to young patients and controls, and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS-20) to the mothers. Higher rates of alexithymia emerged in the TTH group compared to the M group. In particular, TTH sufferers had difficulty identifying their feelings. The mothers of children with headaches didn't score higher in alexithymia compared to other mothers. In the M and in the control group, there was a significant correlation between the rates of alexithymia in young people and in their mothers. To date no other study has investigated alexithymia in subgroups of primary headaches in developmental age. Our results suggest that patients suffering from TTH are more alexithymic than M patients. This pave the way to etiopathogenetic and clinical considerations, calling for a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to tackle the problem of headache.

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Mendeley readers

Mendeley readers

The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 47 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.

Geographical breakdown

Country Count As %
Unknown 47 100%

Demographic breakdown

Readers by professional status Count As %
Other 8 17%
Student > Ph. D. Student 8 17%
Researcher 5 11%
Student > Doctoral Student 4 9%
Student > Postgraduate 3 6%
Other 9 19%
Unknown 10 21%
Readers by discipline Count As %
Medicine and Dentistry 13 28%
Psychology 9 19%
Neuroscience 4 9%
Computer Science 1 2%
Economics, Econometrics and Finance 1 2%
Other 5 11%
Unknown 14 30%
Attention Score in Context

Attention Score in Context

This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 1. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 04 December 2015.
All research outputs
#18,572,005
of 23,849,058 outputs
Outputs from The Journal of Headache and Pain
#1,172
of 1,417 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#268,410
of 391,769 outputs
Outputs of similar age from The Journal of Headache and Pain
#10
of 15 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,849,058 research outputs across all sources so far. This one is in the 19th percentile – i.e., 19% of other outputs scored the same or lower than it.
So far Altmetric has tracked 1,417 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 17.6. This one is in the 14th percentile – i.e., 14% of its peers scored the same or lower than it.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 391,769 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one is in the 27th percentile – i.e., 27% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.
We're also able to compare this research output to 15 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one is in the 26th percentile – i.e., 26% of its contemporaries scored the same or lower than it.