The Unified Brief Screening Protocol (UBSP): A Rapid Clinical Tool for Nociplastic Pain Phenotyping in Orofacial Pain

This study proposes and provides a preliminary proof-of-concept for the Unified Brief Screening Protocol (UBSP), a novel, time-efficient clinical tool designed to bridge the implementation gap in nociplastic pain assessment. Developed specifically for high-volume settings like orofacial pain and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) clinics, the UBSP integrates brief sensory examination with validated ultrashort psychosocial scales (e.g., PCS-S, SAS-3). In a retrospective clinical derivation cohort (n=78), the psychosocial component demonstrated a median administration time of only 2.3 minutes and identified high comorbidity in 22% of patients, showing convergent validity. The estimated total protocol time is under seven minutes, offering a feasible, structured framework for early phenotyping to guide personalized management. This work advances a pragmatic screening solution from theory toward clinical application.