Neuropsychological assessment of Romanian burning mouth syndrome patients: stress, depression, sleep disturbance, and verbal fluency impairments
Cosmin Dugan, Bogdan Ovidiu Popescu, Șerban Țovaru, Ioanina Părlătescu, Ioana Andreea Musat, Maria Dobre, Athena Cristina Ribigan, Elena Milanesi
Abstract
Burning Mouth Syndrome (BMS) is a chronic condition characterized by a burning sensation in the oral mucosa, lasting more than 2 hours daily for more than 3 months, without clinical and/or laboratory evidence. BMS is often comorbid with mood, and psychiatric disorders, and a complex pathophysiology and interaction between impairments in nociceptive processing and psychologic function is occurring. In this work, we aimed to define the neuropsychological profile specific for BMS patients for a better management of this complex disease. We conducted a case–control study comparing 120 BMS patients and 110 non-BMS individuals (CTRL). Sociodemographic data and lifestyle habits, were collected, along with data regarding quality of life (SF-36 scale), stress (PSS), depression and anxiety (MADRS and HADS scales), sleep quality (PSQI scale), and cognitive functions (MoCA, SVF and PVF tests). The statistical analysis revealed a lower general quality of life ( p < 0.001), worse sleep quality ( p < 0.001) in BMS patients than CTRL. The BMS patients also displayed a higher prevalence of mild depressive symptoms than CTRL applying the MADRS ( p < 0.001) and HADS-Depression scales ( p = 0.001), whereas no differences in anxiety symptoms were found between the two groups ( p = 0.174). Moreover, reduced scores semantic and phonemic verbal fluency tests ( p < 0.05) were found, but no change in cognition was observed through MoCA ( p = 0.551). Our results highlight that synergy between dentistry and neuropsychiatric assessment is essential for a successful management of BMS.