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The impact of COVID-19 pandemic in patients with a diagnosis of Oral Lichen Planus: Pain perception and psychological profile analysis

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Abstract

Objectives

To assess the impact of COVID-19 in patients affected by OLP, in terms of level of pain, stress, depression and anxiety and their impact on the clinical manifestation of the disease.

Material and methods

A longitudinal design was employed. Psychometric evaluations of anxiety, stress, and depression were conducted using the DASS21 scale, while pain levels were measured using the VAS scale. Clinical diagnosis and phenotype evaluation were performed.

Results

The study included 24 patients with an average age of 62.9 years, with 70.8% presenting erosive OLP. Results revealed a significant worsening of anxiety, stress, and depression scores during the pandemic. Pain level (1.5 ± 1.2 pre-pandemic VS 3.8 ± 1.1 during the pandemic, p < 0.0001) was also negatively affected.

Conclusions

These findings highlight the potential interplay between psychological stress and oral health conditions, emphasizing the need for a comprehensive understanding of OLP's complex etiology and its response to external stressors.

Clinical relevance

Multidisciplinary care strategies to address both physical and psychological aspects of OLP patients is recommended following the present findings. Further research is warranted to confirm these observations in larger multicenter studies and to guide tailored guidance approaches for OLP patients during challenging times.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Unit of Oral Pathology, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Massimo Viviano, Stefano Parrini, Nicola Discepoli, Nicola Baldini, Marco Ferrari & Mario Tortoriello

  2. Division of Psychiatry, Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Siena, School of Medicine, Siena, Italy

    Alessandro Cuomo & Andrea Fagiolini

  3. Department of Medical Biotechnologies, Maxillofacial Surgery Unit, University of Siena, Siena, Italy

    Andrea Frosolini, Guido Gabriele & Paolo Gennaro

Authors
  1. Massimo Viviano
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  2. Stefano Parrini
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  3. Nicola Discepoli
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  4. Nicola Baldini
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  5. Marco Ferrari
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  6. Alessandro Cuomo
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  7. Andrea Fagiolini
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  8. Andrea Frosolini
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  9. Guido Gabriele
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  10. Paolo Gennaro
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  11. Mario Tortoriello
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Contributions

M.V., S.P., N.D., A.C. and M.T. contributed to the conceptualization, data collection, analysis, manuscript composition of the study. G.G. and A.Frosolini, provided data curation, methodology, data interpretation, validation, and visualization. The original draft of the manuscript was prepared by M.V., S.P., N.D., N.B., M.F., and M.T., and all authors, including G.C. and P.G., participated in the review and editing process. Supervision was provided by P.G., M.F., Andrea Fagiolini and V.A. All authors have reviewed and consented to the final version of the manuscript for publication.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Andrea Frosolini.

Ethics declarations

Ethical approval

The study follows the Declaration of Helsinki for medical research involving human subjects and was approved by the Regional Ethics Committee for Clinical Trials of Tuscany (Italy) in date 28 June 2021 (code n. ODO003).

Informed consent

Every participant signed an informed consent.

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing interests.

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Viviano, M., Parrini, S., Discepoli, N. et al. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic in patients with a diagnosis of Oral Lichen Planus: Pain perception and psychological profile analysis. Clin Oral Invest 28, 31 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05470-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-023-05470-9

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