Unspecific adverse health effects in patients with orofacial pain

Pain-associated psychological and psychosocial findings are the rule in patients with persistent orofacial pain. In German-speaking countries, the overall impairment of the subjective state of health (unspecific adverse health effects) is often determined using the Beschwerden-Liste, of which there are two versions (B-L and B-L'). The aim of this study, carried out on 98 orofacial pain patients, was to determine the correlations between both of these questionnaires, and the health strain associated with other pain parameters (duration and extent of existing pain, pain-descriptive adjectives, depressive preoccupation; pain-related impairment of daily activities). The B-L and B-L' resulted in almost identical average sum-total values (26 and 27, respectively), representing a severe health strain. Unspecific adverse health effects were shown to rise proportionally with increasing pain distribution. Strong correlations were shown between the extent of the health strain and the degree of agreement with the pain descriptors, the degree of depressive preoccupation, and the severity of pain-related impairment in everyday life. It was concluded that: (1) It is sufficient to use one of the two versions of the Beschwerde- Liste; and (2) due to the pronounced pain-related non-somatic findings, they should be included in pain diagnosis and therapy. Keywords: depressive preoccupation, facial pain, pain descriptors, pain distribution, pain duration, pain measurement, somatization