Risk Factors in Burning Mouth Syndrome among Older Adults

Abstract

Background of the study: A chronic and untraceable condition of pain is burning mouth syndrome (BMS) and is commonly observed in middle-aged and elderly people of both the genders. Many psychiatric disease that include anxiety levels, personality disorders and depressions are caused by oral problems i.e dysgeusia, burning mouth, oral malodour and dry mouth. Objective: This study aimed investigation of factors of risk associated with BMS in elderly people of both the genders. Design: It was a systematic review. Material and Methods: Inclusion and exclusion criteria were used and studies published from 2008 till date of review were included in the systematic review. For gathering relevant studies, some key words were used to find already published material i.e “elder, older, burning mouth syndrome / BMS, oral health problems, and elderly people”. Moreover, for enhancing relevancy and appropriateness, Boolean operators like AND, OR, double quotations, asterisk etc. were used. Popular and good reputed databases with peer-reviewed articles and journals were used that included PubMed health, Google scholar, EBSCO host, CINAHL, Embase and Cochrane Library. A table comprising of columns like study title, name of author, sample size, research objective, limitations and key findings was prepared for data extraction. Results: Based on moderate or strong quality, thirteen studies relevant to the objective were shortlisted. These studies had highlighted BMS as risk factor. It was held that female population is more affected by BMS in comparison with males and its prevalence is high in elderly aged people i.e. above 55-years age. Conclusion: From findings of the review, it is established that in older population numerous risk factors of BMS are dental procedures, increased age, lacking therapeutic treatments, lack of knowledge besides poor knowledge and practices of medical staff and poor care being given to older age people especially in post-menopausal stage in women. Keywords: Burning mouth syndrome, WHO, global population, post-menopause.