Osmophobia is a specific clinical marker of migraine, but not tension-type headache, a new study found. Researchers conducted a prospective study on 193 patients suffering from migraine without aura, migraine with aura, episodic tension-type headache, or a combination of these. Each patient was asked to describe in detail osmophobia, when present, in the 4 headache attacks. Among the findings:
- 45.7% of migraine with aura attacks were associated with osmophobia.
- 67.2% of patients with migraine reported osmophobia in at least a quarter of the attacks.
- No tension-type headache attack was associated with osmophobia.
Terrin A, et al. A prospective study on osmophobia in migraine versus tension-type headache in a large series of attacks. [Published online ahead of print September 19, 2019]. Cephalalgia. doi: 10.1177/0333102419877661.