title: Orofacial pain and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in Finnish and Thai populations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Cultural or ethnic factors may play an important role in subjects' pain reports. The aim of the study was to compare the prevalence of orofacial pain symptoms between Finnish and Thai populations.
  
  
  METHODS
  The Finnish study population comprised the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966, of which 5696 subjects participated in the present study. The Thai sample consisted of 1501 randomly selected people living in 10 different districts in Bangkok. Data on orofacial pain was collected based on questionnaires.
  
  
  RESULTS
  After adjusting for age, gender and education, the logistic regression analysis showed that Thai subjects had an increased risk for reporting oral pain (OR = 4.5, 95% CI = 3.7-5.4), tooth pain (OR = 2.0, 95% CI = 1.8-2.4) and pain in the face (OR = 1.5, 95% CI = 1.2-1.7).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It can be concluded that Thai people report more orofacial pain symptoms than Finnish subjects. Cross-cultural factors exist in the background of reporting pain symptoms in the oral and facial area.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland , Finland.
authors.forename: Kirsi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sipilä
authors.forename: Mimmi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tolvanen
authors.forename: Somsak
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mitrirattanakul
authors.forename: Panupen
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sitthisomwong
authors.forename: Marjo-Riitta
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Järvelin
authors.forename: Anja
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Taanila
authors.forename: Vuokko
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Anttonen
authors.forename: Satu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lahti
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D005387:Finland / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D014098:Toothache / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: cross-cultural comparison; orofacial pain; prevalence studies; temporomandibular disorders