Comparison of Risk Factors in Patients With Acute and Chronic Orofacial Pain

Management of patients with orofacial pain may benefit from a better understanding about patient factors that may lead pain chronicity. In this study, we retrospectively compared physical and psychological factors in patients with acute and chronic orofacial pain. We analyzed data from 854 patients presenting to the Orofacial Pain Center, Department of Dental Anesthesiology, Tokyo Dental College, Suidobashi Hospital between April 2010 and March 2014. We categorized patients into the acute group if their condition had persisted <6 months and the chronic group if their condition had lasted 6 months or longer, based on the classification by the International Association for the Study of Pain. The retrospective data were analyzed by using univariate analysis on background factors from a health questionnaire, pain evaluation sheet, and psychological test completed at the time of presentation. Multiple logistic regression was applied on these factors. Our results suggest that female gender and high trait anxiety may be involved in orofacial pain becoming chronic.