Psychological morbidity in chronic orofacial pain and headaches

Abstract

AbstractAimsThe study aims to investigate the levels of anxiety and depression in patients experiencing orofacial pain and to explore similarities in psychological morbidity between patients experiencing chronic orofacial pain and those with chronic daily headaches. The study also aims to gain insight into the interference with functionality in chronic orofacial pain patients.Materials and methodsThe sample consisted of 150 new patients with chronic orofacial pain, 112 female and 38 male. Patients completed a retrospective facial pain questionnaire that included the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), as well as the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), to assess functionality interference. The chronic orofacial pain HADS were compared with HADS normative data and existing HADS data from a sample with chronic daily headache.ResultsTemporomandibular joint dysfunction was the most common diagnosis for chronic orofacial pain, affecting 75 patients. According to the BPI scores, patients mostly complained that the pain interfered with their enjoyment of life (49%), mood (44%) and sleep (44%), followed by general activity (39%), relationships with other people (35%) and work (34%). Both clinical HADS groups scored significantly higher than the normative group on the HADS (P < 0.001), while there were no statistical differences between the clinical groups.ConclusionChronic orofacial pain can have a considerable detrimental effect on daily life and is associated with significantly greater levels of anxiety and depression than seen in general population samples. The levels of anxiety and depression seen in chronic orofacial pain patients were similar to the psychological morbidity found in patients with chronic daily headache.