Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 18, 2026
An Experimental Paradigm for the Prediction of Post-Operative Pain (PPOP)
Published on: January 27, 2010
Can one predict the likely specific orofacial pain syndrome from a self-completed questionnaire?
Tatiana V Macfarlane1, Anthony S Blinkhorn, Rebecca Craven
1University Dental Hospital of Manchester, Higher Cambridge Street, Manchester M15 6FH, UK Oral Medicine Unit, Barts and the London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK Unit of Chronic Disease Epidemiology, School of Epidemiology and Health Sciences, The University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
Abstract:
To estimate the prevalence of orofacial pain (OFP) by specific diagnostic subgroups in the general population. Cross-sectional population study. General medical practice in South East Cheshire, UK. Participants of baseline investigation who completed the full postal questionnaire (1510, adjusted study participation rate 81%). Clinical examination was attended by 126 (43%) of all the participants who reported OFP in the questionnaire. These individuals were classified as musculoligamentous/soft tissue type, dentoalveolar or neurological/vascular. OFP duration, location, descriptors and statements on OFP were predictors of classification group. The estimated prevalence in the general population of musculoligamentous/soft tissue type of OFP was 7%, dentoalveolar 7% and neurological/vascular 6%. This study has derived a statistical model to classify participants with OFP into three broad groups (musculoligamentous/soft tissue, dentoalveolar and neurological/vascular) based on questionnaire information about OFP (OFP chronicity, location and verbal descriptors of pain). It is potentially useful in large population studies of OFP, where a clinical examination is not possible, however, further validation of its performance in large populations are necessary.
