The Association between Emotional Stress, Sleep Disturbance, Depression, and Burning Mouth Syndrome

Abstract

Introduction. Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is one of the challenging clinical problems not only in its diagnosis and treatment but also its concurring mental impact. This study is aimed at determining the association between psychological factors, including emotional stress, depression, anxiety, and sleep pattern among BMS patients. Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 19 patients with idiopathic BMS were enrolled along with a control group equivalent in age and sex, but without BMS. Questionnaires used were the Visual Analog Scale (VAS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Demographic information was also recorded and analyzed. Results. There was a significant correlation among the two groups of BMS and non-BMS patients regarding stress, depression, and sleep disorder. The average severity of the burning score was 8.31 among the patients. Furthermore, a significant correlation was observed among mental disorders and educational level and sex, but not with age. There was also no significant correlation among the severity of the burning score with sex, education, and mental disorder. Conclusion. BMS is significantly associated with psychological symptoms. This condition requires proper treatment and support because it can represent psychological or mental issues and/or have a significant effect on daily life.

The use of self‐report questionnaires in an analysis of the multidimensional aspects of pain and a correlation with the psychological profile and quality of life in patients with burning mouth syndrome: A case‐control study

“…In addition, the BMS patients suffered from a high pain intensity (VAS: 8–10; BPI intensity: 19.8–30), which deeply interfered, in terms of intensity and quality, in the individual's life activities (BPI interference: 9–32). Specifically, the scores of the VAS and BPI intensity of the BMS patients in our sample were in line with the study of Rezazadeh et al 17 but higher compared with other previous studies. Indeed, in the study of Braud et al, 16 which considered 17 BMS patients, the VAS median score ranged from 6 to 8, while in the study of Lee et al 15 on 65 patients the mean of the VAS intensity and BPI intensity was 5.0 (SD 2.4) and 4.2 (SD 2.6), respectively.…”

“…Pain, psychiatric comorbidity and sleep disturbance are frequently overlapping and intertwined in BMS, resulting in a complex symptomatology 8,17,33 . Therefore, the decision to carry out a detailed assessment, including the evaluation of all these features through appropriate questionnaires, is essential for BMS diagnosis and treatment, as suggested by the recent IMMPACT recommendations 34 .…”

“…Pain, psychiatric comorbidity and sleep disturbance are frequently overlapping and intertwined in BMS, resulting in a complex symptomatology. 8,17,33 Therefore, the decision to carry out a detailed assessment, including the evaluation of all these features through appropriate questionnaires, is essential for BMS diagnosis and treatment, as suggested by the recent IMMPACT recommendations. 34 The present study provides a wide evaluation of the pain experience and psychological profile in a sample of patients with BMS analysing the intensity, quality, severity and interference of pain on daily life activities and evaluating all the predictors that contribute to the pain experience.…”

“…Accordingly, it has been used only in our previous study and in the study of Lee et al 15 Until now, few studies have investigated the pain experience of patients affected by BMS through a comprehensive pain assessment including several questionnaires, taking into account also the psychological profile of the patients and analysing the potential predictors of pain. [16][17][18] Therefore, the primary outcome of this study has been to investigate the intensity, quality and interference of the pain through the use of different questionnaires such as the VAS, SF-MPQ, PD-Q and BPI in order to obtain a comprehensive multidimensional analysis. The secondary outcome has been to evaluate the relation between pain, mood disorders (anxiety, depression and sleep disorders) and quality of life (QoL) to better understand, which are the most important predictors that may affect the experience of pain.…”

“…Until now, few studies have investigated the pain experience of patients affected by BMS through a comprehensive pain assessment including several questionnaires, taking into account also the psychological profile of the patients and analysing the potential predictors of pain 16‐18 . Therefore, the primary outcome of this study has been to investigate the intensity, quality and interference of the pain through the use of different questionnaires such as the VAS, SF‐MPQ, PD‐Q and BPI in order to obtain a comprehensive multidimensional analysis.…”