A CASE-CONTROL STUDY SHOWING THAT ANXIETY PLAYS A ROLE IN PREDICTING BURNING MOUTH SYNDROME

Abstract

<h3>Objectives</h3> To evaluate the influence of anxiety, depression, and stress in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS). <h3>Study Design</h3> A case-control study was carried out with 60 individuals allocated in 3 groups: with BMS, with nonneoplastic oral lesions, and healthy controls. We used the visual analog scale, Beck's Anxiety and Depression inventories, Lipp's Stress Inventory, the Xerostomia Inventory–Dutch version, and a BMS questionnaire. Kruskal-Wallis/Dunn's tests, chi-square tests, and multinomial logistic regression (SPSS 20.0; <i>P</i> < .05) were used. <h3>Results</h3> The BMS group had high visual analog scale scores (<i>P</i> < .001) and higher frequencies of moderate/severe anxiety (<i>P</i> < .001) and depression (<i>P</i> < .001) and showed higher rates of stress in the alert (<i>P</i> = .003), resistance (<i>P</i> < .001), and exhaustion phases (<i>P</i> < .001). When evaluating the Xerostomia Inventory, we observed that 100% of patients with BMS had some degree of xerostomia, 40% reported moderate xerostomia, and 60% reported severe xerostomia (<i>P</i> < .001). All patients with BMS reported burning and dry mouth, 90% dry mouth, 80% dysgeusia, all values significantly higher than in the control group (<i>P</i> < .001). Anxiety increased the risk of SBA independently by 123.8 times (<i>P</i> = .004). <h3>Conclusions</h3> Psychosomatic involvement is associated with SBA, and anxiety is the most important factor.