Chronic Headache Pain Linked to Suicide Attempts
-
Veterans with chronic headaches had a greater risk of a suicide attempt than that of veterans suffering from chronic neck or back pain, according to findings presented at the American Headache Society's 2021 annual meeting. Risk rose even more in those with chronic headache pain and a comorbid traumatic brain injury (TBI).
-
@maggie The researchers retrospectively analyzed Veterans Health Administration electronic health records of 3,252,704 veterans, predominantly male and White, who had been diagnosed with any type of chronic pain from 2000 to 2010. The researchers looked at overall headache diagnoses instead of specific diagnoses, such as migraine, cluster headache, or posttraumatic headache, since specific headache disorders are frequently underdiagnosed. The population included 14.7% of patients with chronic headache, 14.9% with chronic neck pain, 59.2% with chronic back pain, and 60.2% with other types of chronic pain, including arthritis, fibromyalgia, joint pain, and reflex sympathetic dystrophy.