Introduction - Cluster headache (CH), which affects 0.1% of the population, is one
of the most painful human conditions: despite adequate treatment, the frequent and
severe headaches cause a significant burden to the patients. According to a small
number of previous studies, CH has a serious negative effect on the sufferers' quality
of life (QOL). In the current study, we set out to examine the quality of life of
the CH patients offending our outpatient service between 2013 and 2016, using generic
and headache-specific QOL instruments.Methods - A total of 42 CH patients (16 females
and 26 males; mean age: 39.1 +/- 13.5 years) completed the SF-36 generic QOL questionnaire
and the headache-specific CHQQ questionnaire (Comprehensive Headache-related Quality
of life Questionnaire), during the active phase of their headache. Their data were
compared to those of patients suffering from chronic tension type headache (CTH) and
to data obtained from controls not suffering from significant forms of headache, using
Kruskal-Wallis tests.Results - During the active phase of the CH, the patients' generic
QOL was significantly worse than that of normal controls in four of the 8 domains
of the SF-36 instrument. Apart from a significantly worse result in the 'Bodily pain'
SF-36 domain, there were no significant differences between the CH patients' and the
CTH patients' results. All the dimensions and the total score of the headache-specific
CHQQ instrument showed significantly worse QOL in the CH group than in the CTH group
or in the control group.Conclusion - Cluster headache has a significant negative effect
on the quality of life. The decrease of QOL experienced by the patients was better
reflected by the headache-specific CHQQ instrument than by the generic SF-36 instrument.
