Burning mouth syndrome and oral health-related quality of life: is there a change over time?
BACKGROUND
The symptoms associated with burning mouth syndrome can be quite varied and can interfere with the every day lives of patients. Management of the condition can be challenging for clinicians.


OBJECTIVE
To determine the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQOL) implications of BMS on patients over a period of time whilst undergoing treatment and to evaluate whether treatment interventions had a positive effect on OHRQOL.


METHODS
Thirty-two individuals (26 females, 6 males, mean age 61 years, range 38-83 years) were enrolled in this study. Individuals were interviewed using Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire (SFMPQ), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), at weeks 0, 8 and 16.


RESULTS
Scores from all outcome measures used decreased over the 16 weeks of the study. Statistically significant differences were found between time points for VAS pain scores (P < 0.001), HADS depression scores (P = 0.029), SFMPQ sensory pain scores (P < 0.01) and total scores for OHIP-14 (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Burning mouth syndrome has a negative impact on OHRQOL; however, individually tailored management of the condition can result in an improvement in patient-reported outcome measures including quality of life.
Ni Riordain
R
R
Oral Medicine Unit, Cork University Dental School and Hospital, Wilton, Cork, Ireland. richeal.niriordain@ucc.ie
Moloney
E
E
O'Sullivan
K
K
McCreary
C
C
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D002054:Burning Mouth Syndrome / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009909:Oral Health; D010147:Pain Measurement; D011788:Quality of Life; D012798:Sialorrhea / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D018434:Sickness Impact Profile; D013651:Taste Disorders / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014987:Xerostomia / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy