Gender, primary headache, and psychological distress

The study compared the psychological symptoms of 26 young men and 65 young women referred to a neurology clinic in northern Israel by their family physicians for medical advice regarding headache. The main findings indicated that the women had more severe psychological symptoms than the men in six subscales, although only in somatization, depression, and additional items did the differences reach statistical significance. The authors recommend, in addition to medical intervention, special psychological intervention for women, which would offer counseling in developing coping skills.