E-ISSN : 2733-4538
This study attempted to identify the psychological characterstics of headache patients. The demographic data, the characteristics of headache, the variables of psychological distress, and the MMPI T scores of 127 headache patients were analyzed. The profile of total headache patients on MMPI was 'conversion V' and classified into three clusters. There were differences among three clusters in sex, occupation, duration of headache, frequency, depression and anxiety. Cluster 1 was characterized by elevation on Hs, Hy, Pd and Sc scale and included the greater ratio of male. Cluster 2 is characterized by elevation on Hs, D, Hy, Sc, Pt and Si scale, and included more salesman. Cluster 3 was characterized by elevation on Hs and Hy, and included more housewife, and show longest duration of headache. But the difference of profiles of MMPI in accordance with the headache subtypes, i.e. tension headache, migraine and mixed headache, was not identified. It was suggested that the headache patients could be classified by psychological characteristics; the group with self-assertion deficit, the group experiencing emotional distress and the group with histrionic dispositions.