The effect of a selective 5HT1A receptor agonist (Tandospirone citrate) on the anxiety of patients with painful temporomandibular disorders

Abstract

We investigated the influence of administering tandospirone citrate for improving the anxiety level of patients with painful temporomandibular disorders. The participants were recruited from the patients who visited the 1st Department of Oral Surgery in Tokyo Medical and Dental University or the Department of Dentistry in Jikei University School of Medicine from May 1 to December 31, 1999. The tandospirone citrate (30 or 60 mg/day) was administered to the participants for eight weeks. No other therapy was given to the participants except for giving a general instruction to rest the masticatory system. Signs, symptoms and psychological ratings for anxiety, depression and personality traits were recorded at four and eight weeks after the start. The state of anxiety was evaluated by using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) . Of the total of 58 participants, 37 cases were eligible for analyses. Anxiety score decreased in eight cases although it increased or was unchanged in 29 cases. In comparison between the improved and non-improved group, anxiety (p=0.001), depression (p=0.008) and neuroticism (p=0.007) scores at the baseline in the improved group were significantly higher than in the non-improved group. while visual analogue scales for pain (p=0.012) and mouth opening difficulty (p=0.004) at eight weeks in the improved group were significantly lower than in the non-improved group. These results suggested that the improvement of state of anxiety would effectively improve the objective ratings for symptoms.