• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.217-225
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• 2009

As Pain is a comprehensive, biopsy chosocial phenomenon, improved understanding and successful management of pain need assessment of health-related quality of life and psychological states. The purpose of this study was to evaluate pain severity and pain-related interference to daily lives for patients with non-dental, orofacial pain(OFP) and a possible relation of OFP with psychological morbidity. Relation with such factors as gender, age, pain duration and diagnosis was also assessed. Inclusion criteria was all new patients with non-dental OFP attending the oral medicine.orofacial pain clinic of Dankook University Dental Hospital over 3 months' period, who completed the questionnaires of the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Prior to the first consultation, the patients were asked to fill out the questionnaire in the waiting room and were diagnosed through consultation and clinical examination. Total subjects were 163 with M:F ratio of 1:1.5 and mean age of 34.6${\pm}$17.7 years. Mean duration of pain was 13.3${\pm}$26.2 months and all patients were divided into; Trigeminal Neuralgia group (TN, N=8), Neuropathic Pain group (NeP, N=9), Persistent Idiopathic Facial Pain group (PIFP, N=8), and Temporomandibular Disorders group (TMD, N=138), subdivided into muscle problem (TMD-m, N=73), joint problem (TMD-j, N=24) and muscle-joint combined problem (TMD-c, N=41). OFP patients showed moderate pain severity and moderate pain-related interference. There was no gender difference in overall pain severity and interference and levels of anxiety and depression. Elderly patients aged ${\geq}$ 60 years showed higher pain severity (p<0.05). Patients with chronic pain ${\geq}$ 3 months reported more increased level of anxiety and depression than those with acute pain (p<0.05). Compared to TMD patients, patients with TN, NeP and PIFP suffered from higher level of pain and pain-related interference and reported higher level of anxiety and depression (p<0.05). Pain interference was closely correlated with their pain severity and with psychometric properties such as anxiety and depression. Pain severity was weakly correlated with levels of anxiety and depression. The results suggest a need for psychosocial assessment and support for successful management of OFP in addition to control of pain itself.