Declined Tactile Angle Discrimination in Young Patients With Migraine Without Aura or Tension-Type Headache

Many headache patients often report cognitive disturbances, but tactile cognitive data are limited. Applying computing-aided strategies to reveal the association between migraine without aura (MOA) or tension-type headache (TTH) and tactile cognition is one of the research highlights. The aim of this study was to investigate whether MOA or TTH patients had a decline in tactile discrimination by utilizing a tactile angle discrimination tester. A cross-sectional study was performed between 1 January 2021, and 1 January 2022. A total of 301 participants were enrolled, with 107 in control, 90 in MOA, and 104 in TTH groups. A tactile cognition tester was used to objectively examine tactile discrimination in all participants. Tactile angle discrimination thresholds were measured to compare tactile cognitive functions among three groups. There were no statistically significant differences in their demographic characteristics. Compared to the normal control group, the MOA and TTH groups exhibited significantly higher tactile angle discrimination thresholds (showing decline in tactile discrimination), whereas no significant differences were found between the MOA and TTH groups. Differences in tactile angle discrimination thresholds were observed between young (≤ 44 years old) and middle-aged/elderly (≥ 45 years old) participants in the normal control group but not in the MOA and TTH groups. Moreover, the tactile deficits shown in the MOA or TTH groups were evident only in young participants. This study first demonstrated that patients with MOA or TTH, especially those patients younger than 44 years old, had decreased tactile angle discrimination ability, suggesting decline of tactile cognition.