Self-esteem and Self-compassion Status of Migraine Patients in Turkey: A Multi-center Study by Turkish Headache Study Group

Basak Karakurum-Goksel¹Ruhsen Ocal^2,3*Mert Van⁴Ozlem Coskun⁵Cihad Karaaslan⁵Serap Ucler⁶Figen Gokcay⁷Nese Celebisoy⁷Hadiye Sirin⁷Aysin Kisabay-Ak⁸Aysegul Seyma Saritas⁸Tuba Cerrahoglu-Sirin⁹Buse Rahime Hasirci-Bayir¹⁰Esme Ekizoglu¹¹Elif Kocasoy-Orhan¹¹Derya Bayram¹²Nermin Tanik¹³Sebnem Bicakci¹⁴Vesile Ozturk¹⁵Levent Ertugrul Inan¹⁶Kubra Mehel-Metin¹⁶Yasemin Eren¹⁷Babur Dora¹⁸Emel Oguz-Akarsu¹⁹Necdet Karli¹⁹Emel Ur-Ozcelik²⁰Arife Cimen Atalar²¹Rabia Gokcen Gozubatik-Celik²²Belgin Mutluay²²Elif Ilgaz-Aydinlar²³Pinar Yalınay-Dikmen²³Cemile Sencer Semercioglu¹⁶Ufuk Emre²⁴Osman Cagin Buldukoglu⁴Busra Er⁶Bekir Burak Kilboz⁶Seray Ibis⁷Sibgetullah Yagiz²⁵Huzeyfe Koklu¹⁰İbrahim Kamaci¹¹Gulsan Aliyeva¹¹Basak Elcin Ates²⁶Muge Mercan Kara¹⁵Fatma Zehra Altunc¹⁷Ilgin Kaya¹⁸Cagla Sisman²⁴

• ¹Başkent University, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
• ²University of Health Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan
• ³Hamidiye International Faculty of Medicine,University of Health Sciences, Istanbul, Ankara, Türkiye
• ⁴Antalya Training and Research Hospital, Antalya, Antalya, Türkiye
• ⁵Gazi University, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
• ⁶Prof. Dr. Cemil Tascioglu City Hospital, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ⁷Ege University, Bornova, İzmir, Türkiye
• ⁸Manisa Celal Bayar University, Manisa, Manisa, Türkiye
• ⁹Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Education and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ¹⁰Haydarpasa Numune Training and Research Hospital, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ¹¹Istanbul University, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ¹²Adana City Training and Research Hospital, Ministry of Health (Turkey), Adana, Adana, Türkiye
• ¹³Bozok University, Yozgat, Yozgat, Türkiye
• ¹⁴Faculty of Medicine, Cukurova University, Adana, Adana, Türkiye
• ¹⁵Dokuz Eylül University, Alsancak, İzmir, Türkiye
• ¹⁶Ankara Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
• ¹⁷Dışkapı Yildirim Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Ankara, Türkiye
• ¹⁸Akdeniz University, Antalya, Antalya, Türkiye
• ¹⁹Bursa Uludağ University, Bursa, Bursa, Türkiye
• ²⁰İstanbul Kanuni Sultan Süleyman Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ²¹Istanbul Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Training and Research Hospital, Instanbul, Türkiye
• ²²Bakırköy Dr.Sadi Konuk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ²³Istanbul Aydın University, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ²⁴İstanbul Training Research Hospital, İstanbul, Türkiye
• ²⁵Şişli Etfal Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Istanbul, Türkiye
• ²⁶Çukurova University, Adana, Adana, Türkiye

Migraine, characterized by recurrent attacks, often necessitates a holistic approach for effective management. Treatment strategies aimed at enhancing self-esteem and self-compassion have been shown to reduce pain intensity in patients with chronic pain. This study aimed to investigate self-esteem and self-compassion in individuals with migraine. This multicentre, cross-sectional, case-control study included migraine patients evaluated at headache-specialized outpatient clinics across 22 centers in different regions of Turkey. 901 migraine patients and 901 healthy, matched controls were included. Neurologists specializing in headache disorders administered the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, Self-Compassion Scale, Beck Depression Inventory, and Beck Anxiety Inventory to all participants. Data were compiled at a central site and subjected to statistical analysis.Migraine patients exhibited significantly lower self-esteem scores compared to healthy controls (p=0.001 for both). Additionally, Beck Depression Inventory and Beck Anxiety Inventory scores were significantly higher in migraine patients (p=0.001for both). Although the mean self-compassion scores of migraine patients and healthy controls were comparable, a significant decline in self-compassion was observed among patients with higher migraine attack frequency.In conclusion, our findings indicate that migraine patients exhibit significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression compared to healthy controls. Self-esteem scores were also found to be lower in the migraine group. Although self-compassion scores were similar between the two groups, a noteworthy decline in self-compassion was observed in patients with higher migraine attack frequency. These results suggest that increased migraine severity may negatively impact patients' emotional resilience, highlighting the potential value of integrating psychological support into migraine management, particularly for those with frequent attacks.