Wien Klin Wochenschr. 1993 ; 105(7): 200-3.

[Psychological aspects as predicting factors for the indication of acupuncture in migraine patients]

Baischer W.

Ludwig-Boltzmann-Institut für Akupunktur, Kaiserin-Elisabeth-Spital, Wein.

30 patients with chronic migraine received needle acupuncture after investigation of personality traits, cognitive and social factors. Treatment response was evaluated in two different ways (documentation of attacks in a migraine diary and subjective judgment of outcome). Diary documentation showed that the frequency of attacks was halved, with no essential relation to psychological factors. Short duration of illness was the best predictor of a good response to therapy. Patients' subjective judgement demonstrated a mean improvement of 60%. Unlike diary documentation, the subjective response rates were closely related to personality traits. In particular, patients with high scores for extroversion and low scores for neuroticism reported a better response. Age, sex, social status, and expectations of benefit did not show any relation to treatment efficacy.