title: Prevalence of trigeminal neuralgia: A systematic review.
abstract: The aim of this systematic review was to answer the focused question, "What are the prevalence and the epidemiological characteristics of trigeminal neuralgia in the general population?"
  
  
  
  This systematic review included observational population-based studies reporting the prevalence of trigeminal neuralgia (TN). The authors developed specific search strategies for LILACS, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar. The authors evaluated the methodological quality of the included studies using criteria from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
  
  
  
  Among 728 studies, the authors selected only 3 for inclusion. Two studies were classified as having low risk of bias and 1 as having moderate risk. The sample size ranged from 1,838 to 13,541 adults. This review identified a higher prevalence of TN in women, ranging from 0.03% (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.01-0.08) to 0.3% (95% CI, 0.16-0.55). The maxillary and mandibular branches of the trigeminal nerve were the most affected. The proportion between women and men who had TN was 3 to 1, and those in the age bracket between 37 and 67 years were the most affected.
  
  
  
  The authors of this review identified a higher prevalence of TN in women older than 40 years that usually affected the maxillary and mandibular branches. Further research is required to validate the prevalence of TN in a well-structured, population-based study without a convenience sample.
authors.forename: Isabela Porto
authors.initials: IP
authors.lastname: De Toledo
authors.forename: Jéssica
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Conti Réus
authors.forename: Mariana
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: André Luís
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Porporatti
authors.forename: Marco A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Peres
authors.forename: Augusto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Takaschima
authors.forename: Marcelo Neves
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Linhares
authors.forename: Eliete
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.forename: Graziela
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: De Luca Canto
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D014277:Trigeminal Neuralgia / Q000453:epidemiology*
keywords: Review; prevalence; trigeminal neuralgia