The influence of intolerance of uncertainty on the correlation between the severity of symptoms and satisfaction with oral state in patients with burning mouth syndrome

Abstract

Objective: Intolerance of uncertainty (IU) is thought to be involved with the psychological factors that influence the symptoms in patients with burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and affect their limited satisfaction with the treatments provided. However, the influence of IU on satisfaction has not been explored in detail. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether IU can affect the satisfaction of patients with BMS.

Methods: A total of 34 patients with BMS and 100 patients without the disease who visited the general dental clinic were included in the study. They were required to complete a questionnaire measuring the subjective severity of their symptoms and satisfaction with their oral state, and a short IU scale. The BMS patients were separated from the control patients based on the IU score. The coefficients between the severity of symptoms and satisfaction were calculated to examine the influence of IU on the relationship between the two variables.

Results: The relationship between satisfaction and severity of symptoms was significant in BMS patients with high IU, but not in control patients with low IU.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that IU in BMS patients influences the relationship between the severity of symptoms and the satisfaction, thus indicating that the dissatisfaction in BMS patients with high IU might be prevented by decreasing the IU.

Clinical relevance: Limited satisfaction experienced by BMS patients can influence the patient-doctor relationship. This study provides suggestions for building a good patient-doctor relationship.

Keywords: Burning mouth syndrome; Intolerance uncertainty; Satisfaction; Severity of oral symptom.