Severity of depressive symptoms as predictor of impairment of quality of life in chronic migraine: comparison with episodic migraine.

To identify predictors of quality of life (QoL) in episodic migraine (EM) and chronic migraine (CM), 116 migraineurs were evaluated using the Headache Needs Assessment (HANA). QoL was significantly more impaired in patients with CM. Disability was a predictor of QoL in both EM and CM. Severity of depressive symptoms emerged as a predictor of QoL in CM. QoL was also poorer in women and in those with greater headache intensity and nausea associated with headache in the total sample. The present findings suggest a specific role for depressive symptoms in impaired QoL in CM sufferers.