Pain predictors in a population of temporomandibular disorders patients

The aim of the present study was to assess the potential role of some biological, psychological, and social factors to predict the presence of painful temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) in a TMD-patient population. The study sample consisted of 109 consecutive adult patients (81.7% females; mean age 33.2 ± 14.7 years) who were split into two groups based on Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) diagnoses: painful TMD and non-painful TMD. The presence of pain was adopted as the depended variable to be identified by the following independent variables (i.e., predictors): age, gender, bruxism, tooth wear, chewing gum, nail biting, perceived stress level, chronic pain-related impairment (GCPS), depression (DEP), and somatization (SOM). Single-variable logistic regression analysis showed a significant relationship between TMD pain and DEP with an odds ratio of 2.9. Building up a multiple variable model did not contribute to increase the predictive value of a TMD pain model related to the presence of depression. Findings from the present study supported the existence of a relationship between pain and depression in painful TMD patients. In the future, study designs should be improved by the adoption of the best available assessment approaches for each factor.