[Analysis of type C behavior in patients with oral lichen planus]

To assess type C behavior in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP) in order to provide basis for clinical prevention, treatment and psychological intervention of OLP.

Type C behavior scale was used on 85 OLP patients and 85 control patients, who were in accordance with the inclusion criteria, in order to investigate their type C behavior. The scale included 9 items: anxiety, depression, anger, anger toward inside (anger-in), anger toward outside (anger-out), reasoning, domination, optimism, and social support. Scores of the 9 items between OLP patients and control group were calculated under the instruction of the scale and were statistically analyzed, and OLP group was further stratified statistically by sex, reticulate-erosive-ulcerative (REU) pathological type and course of diseases, and the scores of each group were analyzed and compared.

Among the 85 OLP patients, there were more females, more non-erosive lesion type, and the most common site for OLP was the buccal mucosa. The scores of the type-C behavior questionnaire for anxiety, depression, anger and optimism were respectively 43.01±7.47, 44.02±7.61, 21.56±5.26, 22.15±4.00 among the OLP patients and were 37.94±8.70, 39.58±7.35, 18.12±5.39, 24.05±3.23 among control group, with significant differences(P<0.05 for all) between the two groups. The female OLP patients had higher anxiety, depression, anger scores (43.21±6.97, 44.29±7.54, 21.64±5.09) and lower reasoning, domination, optimism scores (39.12±5.66, 16.29±3.95, 22.05±4.12) with significant differences (P<0.05 for all) compared with those of the female controls. The scores between male patients and male controls showed no significant difference. The patients with erosive lesions had higher anger score (22.94±5.26) than that of the patients without erosive lesions(20.60±5.03), with a significant difference(P<0.05). With the development of the disease, the tendency of anxiety and depression of the patients were more obvious, while optimism scores remained declining. The patients suffering more than 3 years of OLP had higher anger-toward-outside scores (17.36±3.35) than the patients suffering less than 3 years of OLP (15.19±3.99), with a significant difference (P<0.05).

OLP patients showed an obvious type C behavior characteristic, especially in anxiety, depression, anger and low optimism. This research provides the C behavior characteristic of OLP for further psychological consultation or intervention during OLP treatment.