Correlation between anxiety, depression and burning mouth syndrome

The aim of the study was to determine the level of anxiety and depression in patients with and without burning mouth syndrome, and to assess the possible association between the intensity of burning mouth and incidence of depression and anxiety. The study was conducted in a sample of 120 randomly chosen adult patients from two dentist offices in Nova Gradiska (Croatia). Patient data were collected by use of a questionnaire that consisted of four parts: history questionnaire, Beck's anxiety inventory (BAI), Zung's self-evaluation scale for rating depression, and visual analogue scale (VAS) for estimating the intensity of burning mouth syndrome. The presence of the symptoms of burning mouth syndrome was recorded in 35% of 120 subjects. A statistically more significant mean level of depression and anxiety was detected in the group of subjects with the symptoms of burning mouth syndrome. The association between the burning mouth syndrome, anxiety and depression was tested by Pearson correlation. The levels of burning mouth syndrome, anxiety and depression in subjects showed positive correlation. Study results indicated the level of anxiety and the level of depression to be higher in the group of subjects with the burning mouth syndrome. The intensity of the symptoms of anxiety and depression also was in positive correlation with the intensity of the burning mouth syndrome. This clearly points to the role of psychogenic factors, anxiety and depression in the etiology of the burning mouth syndrome, which should be taken in consideration when treating patients with the burning mouth syndrome.