Abstract
Objective
This study investigated the relationship between subjective cognitive symptom reporting and objective cognitive functioning in adults with migraine.
Method
88 participants (Mdn age = 46.0 [35.25–56.75]; Mdn years of education = 16.0 [13.0–19.0]; 88.6% female) completed neuropsychological testing and questionnaires assessing migraine disability (Migraine Disability Assessment Scale) and subjective cognition (Sickness Impact Profile-Alertness Behavior Subscale). Participants had primary headache disorder diagnosis of migraine. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical linear regression were performed.
Results
83% of participants had episodic migraine (< 15 headache days/month) and 58% reported low or moderate disability (MIDAS ≤21). Subjective cognitive dysfunction was associated with lower education (ρ = −0.254; p = 0.018), higher disability (t(84) = −3.00, p = 0.004); and lower scores on coding (r = −0.224, p = 0.023) TMT-A (r = −0.238, p = 0.029), RCFT- Immediate Recall (r = −0.028, p = 0.010), RCFT- Delayed Recall (r = −0.38, p < 0.001), RCFT-recognition (r = −0.40, p < 0.001), and animal fluency (r = −0.27, p = 0.013). Migraine-related disability and RCFT- Delayed Recall (ß = −0.368, SE = 0.006).) accounted for 45.9% of variance in subjective cognitive symptom reporting. The addition of RCFT-recognition (ß = −0.050, SE = 0.025) increased explanation of variance by 4.1%.
Conclusion
Nonverbal memory dysfunction and higher disability may predict subjective cognitive complaints. This study contributes to the limited knowledge of objective and subjective cognitive functioning in adults with migraine.
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