A Case-control Study Of Aetiological Factors In Burning Mouth Syndrome

Eighty-seven consecutive patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and a randomly selected control group (n=82) with a similar age and sex distribution were investigated who had visited the Oral Medicine Clinic of XiangYa Hospital or 2nd Hospital, Central South University during the period from March, 2002 to November,2002. The case-control study was focused on the local, systemic and psychogenic factors.Of the total of 87 cases of BMS identified, 66(75.9%) were women, of whom 47(54%) were menopausal or postmenopausal. The ratio of women to men was 3.14. The mean age was 52.6. BMS is most frequent between the age group from 40 to 70. Duration of symptoms varied from more than 10 days to 10 years, with a medium of nine months. BMS group reported negative life events more frequently than control group. 10(11.5%) patients with BMS reported they had difficult coping with interpersonal relationships, and 4(4.6%) patients were laid off in the recent six months. Patients with BMS significantly exhibited symptoms of depression, anxiety, somatization when compared with controls, which suggested psychogenic factors had fundamentlly related to BMS. Blood analyses such as white blood cell count, red blood cell count, hemoglobin, platelet count showed no statistical difference between BMS group and control group. Among the menopausal or postmenopausal women with BMS, the follicle stimulating hormone level was significantly higher; but the estradiol level was significantly lower, signifying endocrine disorder had something to do with BMS. The result of logistic regression analysis indicated that the habit of sticking out tongue for self-examination, biting lip, periodontitis, smoking, outcome of recent medication, scores of depression were main factors related to BMS. Their odds ratios were 55.9, 8.2, 9.5, 12.6, 3.4, 12.6 respectively, among which the weight of sticking out tongue for self-examination was the largest one.