Methods of Sleep Assessment in Adults with Temporomandibular Disorders and Chronic Orofacial Pain: A Scoping Review Protocol

Prospective protocol for a scoping review mapping the methods used to assess sleep in adults with temporomandibular disorders and chronic orofacial pain. The association between disturbed sleep and TMD is well established, but it rests on two families of measurement that are not interchangeable: self-report instruments, which capture perceived sleep quality, and instrumental methods such as polysomnography, actigraphy, and electromyography, which capture sleep architecture and masticatory motor activity. Where both have been applied to the same participants, they do not consistently agree. This review will inventory which instruments the primary literature uses, in what combinations, how often subjective and instrumental methods are applied concurrently to the same participants, and how often studies applying both report a direct comparison between them. It follows JBI methodology for scoping reviews and will be reported per PRISMA-ScR. No effect estimates, risk of bias assessment, or certainty grading will be produced. This project contains the registered protocol, the executed search lines with dates and yields per database, the charting form, and the record of full texts excluded with reasons. No screening or charting had been performed at the time of registration.