Increased medications in the aged patients with burning mouth syndrome: A potentially overlooked risk factor

Background/purpose

Burning mouth syndrome (BMS) is a chronic oral mucosal burning and pain disorder, predominantly affecting the middle-aged and elderly women. This study aimed to explore the association between polypharmacy and BMS, with consideration of the patients’ age and sex.

Materials and methods

Medical data from 115 BMS patients and 115 age- and sex-matched control subjects were collected. Medications were categorized into four groups based on the number of medications taken. The chi-square test, Student's t-test, and binary logistic regression were performed to evaluate the association between polypharmacy and BMS, after adjustment for age and sex.

Results

A higher proportion of individuals with medications was observed in the BMS group than in the control group (P = 0.0015). Among BMS patients, the older group (≥ 65 years), especially the female BMS patients, tended to take more medications. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed a significant association between polypharmacy and increased odds of having BMS. After adjustment for age and sex, the patients in the minor polypharmacy group (1–4 medications) had significantly higher odds of having BMS compared to those in the non-pharmacy group (no medications), with an adjusted odds ratio of 5.015 (P < 0.001).

Conclusion

These findings suggest a potential association between multiple medications and the risk of having BMS and supported the need to consider polypharmacy as a contributing factor for the older BMS patient. However, future studies should be conducted to explore the exact dose–response trend and the influence of other associated factors on BMS.