Papers of the Week

Head pain (HP) and orofacial pain (OFP) are the most prevalent types of pain worldwide, encompassing cranial, oral and facial pain. The aim of this umbrella review was to answer the following questions: “What is the overall prevalence of HP/OFP and the different prevalences of HP/OFP conditions in adults and children?”. We searched for studies investigating the prevalence of HP/OFP in four major databases and two databases from the grey literature, based on the following PECOS inclusion criteria: (P)opulation: Adults and children; (E)xposure: Orofacial or head pain conditions such as (1) dental, periodontal and gingival, (2) temporomandibular disorders (TMD), (3) neuropathic conditions, (4) headaches, and (5) idiopathic pain conditions; (C)omparison: None; (O)utcome: Prevalence; (S)tudies: Systematic reviews and/or meta-analyses. We identified 2275 studies and after selection through eligibility criteria, 24 systematic reviews were included. The prevalence of pain in adults for different subgroups ranged from 1.12% for Burning Mouth Syndrome to 80.80% for cancer therapy-related orofacial pain. In children, it ranged from 0.20% for temporomandibular joint osteoarthrosis to 83% for all types of headache. This umbrella review based on available evidence provides integrated data illustrating the highly variable prevalence of head pain and orofacial pain both in adults and children. Considering the high specificity of head pain/orofacial pain, specific public health programs should be developed to address such highly prevalent conditions.