Evaluation of Sleep Quality and Psychological Profiles in Patients with Chronic Painful Temporomadibular Disorders

Purpose:Purpose: Temporomadibular disorders (TMDs) can result in chronic pain, which is often associated with psychological and sleep disturbance. Increased levels of psychological and sleep impairments are often related with poor treatment outcomes. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate clinical features, psychological profiles and the prevalence of clinical insomnia in TMD patients with chronic pain and to suggest an effective treatment approach. Methods:Methods: A total of 200 TMD patients who had visited the Pusan National University Hospital dental clinic for treatment of their pain were recruited from June 2018 through December 2019. TMD patients were classified into an acute (n=100) and chronic (n=100) group and compared the clinical symptoms. The primary diagnosis of TMD were catego-rized as TMD with joint pain group (TMD_J), TMD with muscle pain group (TMD_M) and TMD with joint-muscle mixed pain group (TMD_JM). Self- report measures of sleep quality and psychological profiles were evaluated via the Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) and the Korean Stress Response Inventory (SRI). Independent t-tests, Mann-Whitney U-tests, and chi-squared test were used for the statistical analysis. Results:Results: Chronic TMD patients showed higher pain intensity, as well as higher prevalence of related symptoms (headache, musculoskeletal pain) and myogenous pain. They also had significantly higher scores in all SRI parameters and a higher percentage of clinical insomnia than acute TMD patients. Conclusions:Conclusions: Based on the above results, psychological profiles and sleep quality assessments are necessary to provide essential data that will allow for improved treatment of chronic TMD patients.