Psychiatric morbidity in oral lichen planus: A preliminary study

Objective: To study the clinical types and association of psychological factors in patients with Oral Lichen Planus (OLP). Materials and Methods: An analytical age- and sex-matched study involved 30 patients with oral lichen planus (group 1) and 30 control subjects (group 2). We applied the following psychometric tests to both groups: General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Results: The patients with OLP were found to exhibit statistically significant higher anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction with the tests that were used (GHQ 24 and HADS) than the control group (P > 0.05). The study group likewise exhibited greater depression and somatic symptoms. The mean total of the GHQ and HAD scores were found to be higher in the study group than in the controls (P > 0.05). Among the various types of OLP, patients with the erosive type had higher mean scores for anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and depression. Conclusion: In most patients psychiatric morbidity was strongly associated with OLP, which could support its role in the etiopathogenesis of the disease. The higher scores of the General Health Questionnaire and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale gave an insight into the hypothesis that psychological factors are associated with the causation of OLP.