Burning mouth syndrome in postmenopausal women with self-reported sleep problems

ABSTRACT

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate possible relationships among hematologic factors, psychological dimensions, the presence of self-reported sleep problems, and clinical characteristics in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS).

Methods

Twenty-five postmenopausal female patients with primary BMS (aged 55.2 ± 9.6 years) were included. All participants underwent clinical and psychological evaluations and blood sampling. The patients were subdivided according to the absence or presence of the self-reported sleep problems.

Results

Pain intensity of BMS patients with sleep problems was significantly higher than those without sleep problems, and the severity of oral complaints was correlated with the presence of depression, anxiety, hostility, phobia, and psychosis. Estradiol levels were significantly lower, and FSH and LH levels were higher in BMS patients with sleep problems than those without sleep problems.

Discussion

BMS patients with sleep problems may suffer inharmonious psychoneuroendocrinological interactions that might worsen oral BMS symptoms.

KEYWORDS:

• Burning mouth syndrome
• sleep
• blood
• stress
• gonadal hormone

Acknowledgments

The authors extend a special thanks to Su Jin Jeong in the Division of Biostatistics, Medical Science Research Institute, Kyung Hee University Medical Center for statistical consulting services.

Conflict of interest

We declare that we have no conflicts of interest.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Procedures on human subjects were done in accordance with the ethical standards of the Committee on Human Experimentation of our institution and the Helsinki Declaration of 1975. In addition, the study design in the manuscript was approved by the appropriate ethics review boards of Kyung Hee University Dental Hospital.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was provided for this study.

Notes on contributors

Yeon-Hee Lee

Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data: Yeon-Hee Lee.

Drafting and revising of the manuscript critically for important intellectual content: Yeon-Hee Lee, Suk Chon.

Final manuscript approval for submission and publication obtained from two authors.