The status and high risk factors of severe psychological distress in migraine patients during nCOV-2019 outbreak in Southwest China: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Psychological distress is highly prevalent among migraineurs during public health emergencies. The coronavirus disease 2019 (nCOV-2019) has created mass panic in China due to its highly contagious by contact and aerosols and lack of effective treatment. However, the emotion status of migraineurs stayed unclear during the nCOV-2019 outbreak. OBJECTIVE: To understand psychological distress of migraineurs by comparing with common population and identify potential high-risk factors of severe psychological distress among migraine patients. METHOD: We enrolled the migraineurs treated at the department of Neurology of West China Hospital and healthy controls with age- and sex-matched to migraineurs. Data on clinicodemographics and psychological distress in the month of February 2020 (during in the nCOV-2019 outbreak in China) were collected. We used the Kessler 6-item (K-6) scale to assess psychological distress. Potential risk factors of severe psychological distress were identified using univariate and multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS: The 144 migraineurs and 150 controls were included in the study. Migraineurs showed significantly higher K-6 scores than controls (P < 0.001). Migraine attack frequency in previous 30 days and time spent paying attention to outbreak showed significant in multivariate logistic regression with respective odds ratios of 2.225 (95%CI 1.361–3.628, P = 0.001) and 1.589 (95% 1.117–2.26, P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: During public health outbreaks, healthcare professionals should focus not only on controlling and reducing migraine attack but also on mental health of migraineurs, especially those with high frequency migraine attack.