Psychological assessment of patients with recurrent aphthous ulcers

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis (RAS) is among the most common oral conditions and psychological disorders are among its predisposing factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency and type of psychological disorders in patients with RAS. Seventy-five patients referred to Mashhad Dental School were enrolled in this cross-sectional stud: 35 patients with RAS)15 males, 20 females) constituted the study group and 40 healthy patients (15 males/25 females) comprised the control group. The SCL-90 questionnaire consisting of 90 multiple choice questions was completed by all subjects and a psychologist scored and analyzed the results in order to evaluate the psychological status of patients. The overall frequency of psychological disorders was 44%; this rate was 68.6% in the RAS patients and 22.5% in the control group (P<0.0001). The frequency of anxiety disorder was 42.9% in RAS patients and 7.5% in the control group (P<0.0001). The frequency of somatization disorder was 17.1% in RAS patients and 0% in the control group (P=0.008). The frequency of depression was 28.6% in RAS patients and 15% in the control group (P=0.004). All these differences were statistically significant. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in other psychological disorders. The results showed that psychological disorders were generally more frequent among RAS patients compared to the control group. The most common psychological disorder was anxiety disorder and the frequency of anxiety, depression and somatization was higher in RAS patients.