UNC School of Dentistry - The University of North Carolina at ...

#7 Worry In Patients With Chronic Orofacial PainsW. STANLEY, P.F. LIM, and C. E. DAVISOral & Maxillofacial Pain Management Program, Orofacial Pain Clinic UNC School of Dentistry, and Departmentof Psychology East Carolina UniversityObjective: The worry process represents an attempt to engage in mental problem solving on an issue whose outcome isuncertain but contains the possibility of one or more negative outcomes. Worry is regarded as a dynamic and malleablefeature of everyday cognition that functions to prioritize threat and promote problem solving. As such, it is no surprisethat worry has been found to be a common feature of chronic pain. We hypothesized that excessive worrying and paincatastrophizing in patients with chronic orofacial pain would be associated with a higher level of pain experienced. Asecondary purpose of this study was to examine the extent of worry and anxiety experienced by patients with chronicorofacial pains and the relationship of worry to pain catastrophizing and anxiety. Methods: 35 adult patients (32 F, 3M, Age M = 35, SD = 15.3) of the UNC Orofacial Pain Clinic, who had experienced 3 or more months of chronicorofacial pain (Duration M = 5.89 years, SD = 6.1 years), were asked to complete a series of questionnaires (Penn StateWorry Questionnaire (PSWQ), State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI), and a Pain Catastrophizing Scale), and selfreportedpain intensity and duration. The proportion of patients with significant worry and anxiety and correlationsbetween the questionnaire measures and pain reports were examined. Results: We obtained significant positivecorrelations between state anxiety, rumination, helplessness and pain intensity ( r = .337 to r = .449, p < .05) Worrywas not correlated with pain, although it was correlated with state (r = .506, p < .01) and trait anxiety (r = .594, p