Psychosocial Profiles of Temporomandibular Disorder Pain Patients: Proposal of a New Approach to Present Complex Data

To propose a visual method to screen and assess psychosocial functioning in temporomandibular disorder (TMD) pain patients in comparison with age- and gender-matched healthy controls by forming individual profiles and to evaluate the association between psychosocial profiles and quantitative sensory testing (QST) findings of TMD pain patients. Methods: TMD patients (n = 58) and control participants (n = 41) completed a set of questionnaires profiling their psychosocial function, and QST was performed at the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) on both sides of the face in all participants. Psychosocial parameters from the Research Diagnostic Criteria for TMD (RDC/TMD), Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP), and Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) instruments were transformed into T scores, and QST parameters were transformed into z scores based on reference data. Group differences for psychosocial T scores were analyzed with t tests. T scores of psychosocial parameters and z scores of QST parameters were correlated using Spearman's correlation (rho). Results: Most (96.6%) TMD pain patients exhibited one or more parameters indicative of psychosocial distress, with psychological disability scores being the scores most frequently encountered outside the reference 95% confidence intervals (CI). TMD patients were psychosocially more distressed with regard to all psychosocial parameters compared with controls (P < .009). After Bonferroni corrections, a significant correlation was detected between the sleep dysfunction parameter and mechanical detection threshold (MDT) in TMD pain patients (rho = 0.427, P < .001). Conclusion: T score psychosocial profiles created an easy overview of psychosocial function in TMD pain patients. Increased sensitivity to tactile stimuli was associated with higher sleep dysfunction T scores.