Predictors of patients' satisfaction after temporomandibular disorder treatment in a referral clinic

Background: Evaluating patients' satisfaction after received care for temporomandibular disorders (TMD) pain provides oral health care professionals with knowledge and tools to improve their clinical procedures. However, knowledge on patient characteristics that determine satisfaction with the received care for TMD pain is lacking. Objective: To identify potential baseline predictors for patients' satisfaction regarding the management of TMD pain upon treatment completion in a referral clinic. Methods: Eligible patients, viz., individuals of ≥16 years of age, with a TMD-pain diagnosis according the diagnostic criteria for TMD (DC/TMD), and who were treated in a referral clinic, were included. As part of their standard care, a set of diagnostic questionnaires was filled in (e.g. TMD-pain screener, graded chronic pain scale (GCPS), etc.). After completion of the received care, patients filled in a custom-made questionnaire based on patient reported experience measures (PREMs) to quantify their satisfaction with their treatment results and received care. To identify potential predictors associated with patients' satisfaction, univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were used. Results: Twenty-seven patients (mean 39.6, SD 15.0) were included in this study. Overall, the patients were satisfied with the treatment results and the received care. Depressive feelings were negatively associated with satisfaction of treatment results (p =.01) and positively associated with satisfaction of received care (p =.01), while pain intensity was negatively associated with satisfaction of the received care. Conclusion: Depressive feelings are a significant negative predictor of patients' satisfaction with the treatment result for TMD pain, while average pain intensity is a significant negative predictor of patients' satisfaction with the received care.