• A S McMillan, M C M Wong, J Zheng, Y Luo, and C L K Lam.
• Oral Rehabilitation, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China. annemcmillan@hku.hk
• J Oral Rehabil. 2010 Jan 1;37(1):2-10.

AbstractThe 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.

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