Factors Influencing Visual Analog Score For Xerostomia

Objective: The objective of the study was to correlate salivary flow and the subjective sensation of dryness in the oral cavity with self administered visual analogue scale (VAS) in a xerostomic population. Methods: 51 Sjögren's syndrome and 49 medicated, self proclaimed xerostomic subjects were enrolled in the study. Saliva was collected in the morning after subjects refrained from brushing and eating 1.5 hrs prior to the visit. Whole unstimulated (US) saliva was expectorated every minute in a pre-weighed vial for 5 minutes and rate per minute was calculated. Paraffin stimulated saliva (SS) was collected for 2 minutes. Age and gender were also recorded. The New York University Bluestone Research Mouth Feel questionnaire was used to record the dryness in the oral cavity. The intersection of the line drawn by the subject and the VAS was measured (0 being not dry at all and 100 being very dry). Spearman correlation was used to correlate the VAS scores to US, SS, age and gender. Results: The mean VAS score in primary Sjögren's syndrome was 72.25 mm ± 16.92 (range 8-100 mm) and in medicated population was 42.3mm ± 27.04 (ranged 0-87mm) which was statistically significant (p=001). The mean VAS score was 57.43 ± 26.98 mm (range 0 -100 mm) and the mean whole unstimulated salivary flow was 0.14 ± .14 ml/min (range of 0 - 1.16 ml/min). The mean whole stimulated saliva was 1.42 ± 1.29 ml/min (range 0-8.1 ml/min). Spearman correlation indicated that unstimulated saliva significantly correlated with the subjective symptoms of dryness in the oral cavity when using VAS scores. Conclusion: This observation indicated that whole unstimulated saliva plays a pivotal role in a subjective perception of dryness in the oral cavity and the use of VAS scale may help diagnosing salivary hypofunction. Funded in part by Procter and Gamble.