Prevalence and Severity of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders Among Sohag University Medical Students: A Questionnaire Study

Abstract

: Background: Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) is a description of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction and pain with variable degrees of severity, aim of our study is to evaluate the prevalence of TMD among Sohag University medical students. Methods: An online Google form questionnaire of two parts was used for the collection and evaluation of demographic data in the first part and Fonseca’s Anamnestic ten questions in the second part, the link to the questionnaire was sent to students through social media including WhatsApp, Facebook, Telegram groups. A sample of 1130 medical students, including all academic grades with ages ranging from 17 to 32 years responded to the link. Fonseca’s Anamnestic Index (FAI) and its questionnaire were used for the evaluation of the prevalence and degree of severity of TMD. Results: The interpretation of the resulting data showed that a total of 746 students (66%) had TMD of which 422 (56.6%) were females and 324 (43.4%) were males. The FAI was used to classify participants according to severity, the results were categorized as follows; 384 (34%) with no TMD, 508 (45%) with mild degree, 198(17.5%) moderate degree, 40 (3.5%) severe degree of TMD. Females were generally more affected than males. There was a statistically significant difference between categories of TMD across gender. Conclusion: TMD has a high prevalence among asymptomatic medical students, with the mild TMD category representing the highest prevalence among volunteers. Prevalence among females was significantly higher than for males. Our results were consistent with similar studies in the literature.