Prevalence of head and neck Myofascial Pain Syndrome in a South American population

Objective: To diagnose the prevalence of Myofascial Pain Syndrome (MPS) with respect to sex, age, affected muscle, socioeconomic stratum, occupation and associated symptoms. Methods: This is a descriptive, cross-sectional study of a convenience sample of 220 outpatients who attended the Faculty of Dentistry of the Universidad de Antioquia Medellín-Colombia, between September 30th, 2015 and September 7th, 2017. Interventions: not applicable. Main measure of results: Myofascial Pain Syndrome. Results: 26.4% of our sample presented symtoms of MPS. More women than men were found to have MPS. The number of cases decreases with age. The most affected muscle is the trapezium, followed by the temporalis, and there are no significant differences in terms of socioeconomic stratum and occupation. The most frequently reported associated symptom is neck pain. Conclusion: Because there is such a high prevalence, and on a global scale, we believe it is important to establish effective means of diagnosis and adequate measures for the prevention and treatment of this pathology.