Role of recent stressful life events experience in the onset of TMJ dysfunction pain

This study investigated the experience of recent stressful life events in 85 TMJ dysfunction patients and 85 control patients in the 6 months prior to onset by use of a semistructured interview. The effect of age was studied (under or over age 40 yr). TMJ patients experienced twice as many stressful life events in the 6 months before onset as did control patients. Events concerned problems of work, money, health, problems of loss and of interpersonal relationships. These had a greater negative impact on older patients who seemed less able to cope with them. Almost 50% of TMJ dysfunction onsets were attributable to life events which played a formative role in onset. This was calculated mathematically by use of "brought forward times".