Measure and assess the headache and jaw to improve diagnosis and treatment is possible through a new tool to assess the symptoms, developed by a team of researchers, from the UNED, several universities and the Universitary Hospital “La Paz”(Madrid, Spain).
The instrument, called Craniofacial Pain and Disability Inventory (CF-PDI) is a questionnaire, which will improve diagnosis, in patients with primary and secondary headaches, as well as in those with temporomandibular disorders or other orofacial pain, as recorded by the UNED.
And the headaches and pain of jaw are very common symptoms, that have recently had about 60% of the population.
Although the relationship among the two conditions is known, the underlying mechanisms remain under investigation. The questionnaire was designed, in order to measure these ailments and disability, associated with them on one hand, and on the other hand, the functional status of the jaw.
"Pain is assessed by clinical diagnosis and in some cases by radiological tests", said the Dean of Physiotherapy in USSC La Salle and leader of the research group, Roy La Touche.
The researcher said that this method will continue getting so well; but it was necessary to have a Spanish instrument, to quantify "valid and reliable" pain and associated disability.
"This instrument is to play a key role, because it can help improve the specificity of diagnosis, patient monitoring and therapeutic interventions, that are planned", has topped La Touche.
The implementation and use of this tool does not imply a change in the way to diagnose headcephalic pain, but it helps to improve this practice.
The study, published in the journal Pain Physician, was made from a sample of 192 patients, from the University Hospital of La Paz, whom the questionnaire was administered.
They had chronic migraine, chronic tension headache, orofacial pain and temporomandibular disorders. Then, a psychometric analysis from the responses was performed. The result allowed to validate the CF-PDI, as an objective measurement tool, in these cases.
"The next step is to investigate more advanced psychometric properties and further analyze the behavior of inventory, using any therapeutic application, in clinical trials", concluded the member of the Department of Methodology of Behavioral Sciences of the UNED, Juan Carlos Suarez.
The study involved several institutions, in collaboration with members of the Research Group on Movement Sciences, Bioconduct Study of Pain and the Faculty of Health Sciences of the USSC La Salle.
One more time there is a very interesting Spanish research, that will give any hope to many patiens, all over the world. And I celebrate it.
Until my next post, kind regards,
Luis.
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