title: Widespread pain symptoms and psychological distress in southern Chinese with orofacial pain.
abstract: The study investigated the experience of widespread pain (WP) symptoms and psychological distress in southern Chinese with orofacial pain (OFP). A community-based, cross-sectional case-control study involving people aged 35-70 registered with the Hospital Authority/University of Hong Kong Family Medicine Clinic served as the sampling frame. People with recent OFP symptoms and a group without OFP took part. Standard questions were asked about OFP conditions in the previous month. Psychological status was evaluated through depression, and non-specific physical symptoms (NPS) scores were measured with depression and somatization sub-scales of the Symptom Checklist-90. Widespread pain was determined using body outline drawings to identify painful sites prior to a standard clinical examination. Two hundred people with OFP and 200 without OFP participated. Compared with 5.0% in the comparison group (P = 0.005), 13.5% of participants with OFP had WP (OFP/WP). Multiple OFP symptoms were more common in the OFP/WP sub-group than the OFP sub-group without WP (OFP/No WP) (P < 0.002). Sixty-three percent of the OFP/WP sub-group had moderate/severe depression scores compared with 26.0% in the OFP/No WP sub-group (P < 0.001). When pain items were included and excluded, 92.6% and 88.9% of the OFP/WP sub-group had moderate/severe NPS scores, respectively compared with 68.5% and 65.0% in the OFP/No WP sub-group (P = 0.004). Co-morbid WP occurred relatively often in southern Chinese with OFP. Psychological distress was common in OFP sufferers, particularly those with WP. A multidisciplinary approach to treatment including cognitive/behavioural therapy should be considered in Chinese people with OFP as part of a WP pattern.
authors.affiliation: Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. annemcmillan@hku.hk
authors.forename: A S
authors.initials: AS
authors.lastname: McMillan
authors.forename: M C M
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: C L K
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Lam
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D002908:Chronic Disease; D017281:Cost of Illness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*