Potential of the Japanese Version of PainDETECT questionnaire for Patients with Chronic Orofacial Pain and Psychiatric Comorbidities: A preliminary study

Abstract Background Various questionnaires have been introduced and validated as methods for screening of neuropathic pain, but none have been established for the orofacial region. Although chronic pain and depression are likely to comorbid, few studies have examined the relationship between chronic pain in the orofacial region and depression. Therefore, we evaluated the potential of the Japanese Version of PainDETECT as an assessment tool for neuropathic pain associated with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and persistent idiopathic facial pain (PIFP).We also evaluated the depression scale such as Beck’s Depression Inventory (BDI: a subjective index) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS: an objective index) with BMS or PIFP. Methods We administered the Japanese version of the PainDETECT questionnaire to the patients with BMS (29 patients) and PIFP (17 patients). We performed BDI and HDRS with BMS or PIFP. We also evaluated the correlation between the PainDETECT final score and BDI or HDRS. The questionnaire was also used to evaluate post-extraction pain which is a typical nociceptive pain (EXT 16 patients). All subjects underwent a psychiatric evaluation by a trained psychiatrist. Results Although PainDETECT final score was significantly higher in the BMS [median: 10] compared with the PIFP [6] (p=0.016) and EXT [5] (p=0.005), both BMS and PIFP did not reach the cutoff value. HDRS was significantly higher in the BMS [7] than the PIFP [3.5] (p =0.04). There were no significant differences between the BMS [14] and PIFP [9] in BDI. There was little correction between the PainDETECT final score and BDI or HDRS. Conclusion We cloud not say that the Japanese version of the PainDETECT questionnaire have sufficient potential as a pain assessment tool for patients with BMS and PIFP. Although there was little correlation between depression and PainDETECT final score for patients with BMS or PIFP, BMS was comorbid with depression objectively than PIFP.