Assessment of oral health-related quality of life, measured by OHIP-14 and GOHAI, and psychological profiling in burning mouth syndrome: A case-control clinical study

Objectives To evaluate the oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) of patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) by comparing the Oral Health Impact Profile-14 (OHIP-14) and Geriatric Oral Health Assessment Index (GOHAI) tests, assessing their dependence with pain, anxiety and depression and, secondly, to analyse the changes in time after treatment with psychotropic drugs. Methods Twenty-six patients and 26 controls were included. The GOHAI, OHIP-14, visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Hamilton Rating Scales for Depression and Anxiety (HAM-D and HAM-A) were performed at baseline (time 0) and after 6 months of treatment (time 1). Descriptive statistics, the Mann-Whitney non-parametric test for two independent samples and the Wilcoxon non-parametric test for two paired samples were used. Results The scores from all outcome measurements were statistically significantly different between the cases and controls (P < .001) with a strong correlation between the GOHAI and the OHIP-14 (P < .001). The BMS patients showed a statistically significant improvement in the VAS, HAM-D and HAM-A scores from time 0 to time 1 (P < 0.001), and in the OHIP-14 scores (P < .004**) after the treatment, but no statistically significant difference in the GOHAI score (.464). Conclusions Burning mouth syndrome patients showed poorer scores on all scales compared to the healthy subjects with a lower OHRQoL. OHIP-14 gives a greater weight to psychological and behavioural outcomes in evaluating oral health than GOHAI, and therefore, it is a more effective questionnaire in terms of the evaluation of the treatment response. The management of BMS can improve pain, anxiety and depression and the OHRQoL.