Depression and anxiety levels in patients with temporomandibular disorders: comparison with the general population

Objectives: The objective of this study was to compare levels of depression and anxiety of a group of patients with orofacial pain attributed to a temporomandibular disorder (TMD) to the general population. Materials and methods: Diagnosis of orofacial pain attributed to a TMD was given according the DC/TMD classification system. PHQ-9 and GAD-7 questionnaires were used to respectively screen for depression and anxiety. Scores of these two questionnaires in the study group were compared to the scores of two large population samples representing normative data in the general population. Results: Two hundred forty-three patients (191 females and 52 males) were included in the study. Both Kolmogorov-Smirnov and chi-square testing showed statistically significant higher scores (p ≤ 0.05) for both PHQ-9 and GAD-7 in the study group in comparison with the general population and PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scores were strongly correlated. Conclusions: The results of this study indicate that screening for depression and anxiety should be considered in the diagnosis of patients with orofacial pain attributed to a TMD. Clinical relevance: PHQ-9 and GAD-7 could be used to assist clinicians, without specific training in mental health, to screen for potential signs of existing comorbidity of depression or anxiety disorders in patients with orofacial pain attributed to TMD.