Open AccessApplicability of visual-analogue scale in patients with orofacial pain
Author(s) -
Jovana Lončar,
Zorica Panic,
Ivana Stojšin,
Slobodan Savović,
Bojan Petrović
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
srpski arhiv za celokupno lekarstvo
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.135
H-Index - 17
eISSN - 2406-0895
pISSN - 0370-8179
DOI - 10.2298/sarh1308454l
Subject(s) - medicine , visual analogue scale , orofacial pain , chronic rhinosinusitis , statistical significance , chronic pain , pathological , provocation test , dentin hypersensitivity , wilcoxon signed rank test , physical therapy , dentistry , mann–whitney u test , surgery , dentin , pathology , alternative medicine
. Orofacial pain occurs in various disorders of the orofacial region. Objective. The aim of this study was to examine applicability of the visual-analogue scale (VAS) in patients with orofacial pain (model of acute and chronic pain). Methods. The study involved 60 patients, aged 18-70 years. The first group consisted of patients with dentin hypersensitivity, and the second group of patients with chronic rhinosinusitis. All patients were asked to fill-in a pain questionnaire and to rate pain intensity on the modified visual analogue scale (VAS; 0-10). Air indexing method was performed in the patients with dentin hypersensitivity in order to provoke pain, while the patients with chronic rhinosinusitis underwent CT imaging of paranasal sinuses. Wilcoxon’s test and Pearson’s correlation coefficient were used for statistical analysis. Results. In patients with dentin hypersensitivity provocation increased subjective feeling of pain, but without statistical significance (t=164.5; p>0.05). In patients with chronic rhinosinusitis a significant statistical correlation (r=0.53; p<0.05) was found between subjective pain assessment of VAS and CT findings. Conclusion. Applying VAS in the evaluation of acute and chronic pain can indicate progression or regression of pathological state under clinical conditions. This study showed that VAS, as a method for follow-up of pathological state, is more applicable and efficient when applied in chronic pain evaluation