Abstract
This study investigated relationships between changes in sensory thresholds, subjective symptoms, and mental states over time in 55 patients who had sensory disturbances on their unilateral lower lip and chin.
The sensory thresholds were determined by nine different testing modalities which included static light touch, two-point discrimination, warm/cool/heat stimulation, 5-Hz rectangular current stimulation, and current perception thresholds (2,000Hz, 250Hz, 5Hz). Obtained thresholds were classified into five scores (0–4), and the average of the scores for all the tests was calculated as the individual score (average score).
To investigate what kind of subjective sensations the patients were experiencing, the McGill Pain Questionnaire (Japanese version) was applied. The degree of hindrance in daily life, degree of subjective sensory abnormality, and daily duration of sensory disturbance were investigated using visual analog scales. To investigate the patient's mental state, we used the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.
Neither the changes in subjective symptoms nor the mental states of anxiety and depression showed a significant correlation with recovery in sensory thresholds (i.e., the average scores). The changes in patients' subjective symptoms and mental states were not associated with the appearance/disappearance of hypersensitivity to thermal stimulation or current perception thresholds.
