title: Persistent dentoalveolar pain: the patient's experience.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To build an understanding of the patient's experience and from this identify recurring themes that could form part of an item pool for further testing of persistent dentoalveolar pain disorder (PDAP).
  
  
  METHODS
  Proven cases of PDAP were identified from a clinical database, and a purposive maximum variation sample was drawn. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the sample by a single trained interviewer. Interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data collection and analysis occurred until data saturation (n = 20), with no new themes emerging. Analysis of the data was an iterative and inductive process broadly following the principles of the constant comparative method.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Recurrent themes emerging from the data were: difficulty in responding to history taking; duration and magnitude of pain; complex and confounding descriptors; common exacerbating factor; well-localized pain; deep pain; pressurized or pressure feeling.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Several common experiences that can be considered items were identified in the data. These items will add to the limited pre-existing item pool in the literature and allow testing of this item pool to determine those items best suited to form an adjunctive self-report diagnostic instrument for PDAP.
authors: Newcastle University, Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK. Justin.Durham@ncl.ac.uk
authors: Justin
authors: J
authors: Durham
authors: Catherine
authors: C
authors: Exley
authors: Mike T
authors: MT
authors: John
authors: Donald R
authors: DR
authors: Nixdorf
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D059350:Chronic Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008487:Medical History Taking; D008875:Middle Aged; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D011312:Pressure; D057566:Self Report; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014098:Toothache / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis*