Pain catastrophizing in Temporomandibular disorders patients

Background: Pain catastrophizing can be defined as a series of negative thoughts about an actual or potential painful experience. Temporomandibular dysfunction (TMD) is a collective term for a painful musculoskeletal syndrome, temporomandibular joint and the associated structures. Aim: Evaluate the level of pain catastrophizing in individuals with TMD. Methods: a total of 40 participants were evaluated and divided into two groups: a control group with 20 individuals without TMD and an experimental group with 20 individuals with TMD. Participants with TMD were evaluated through medical history and clinical examination considering their chief complaint and followed the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders. The Pain Catastrophizing Scale was applied to all participants in both groups. Results: Although women represented the largest group with TMD, they did not present higher levels of pain catastrophizing compared to men. Age was not statistically relevant, which contradicts some previously published studies. The group with TMD had a higher pain catastrophizing index (p ≤ 0.001), but no TMD subtype was related to this index. Rumination, magnification, and hopelessness were relevant in this study and showed high correlation with TMD. Conclusions: patients with TMD presented higher scores of pain catastrophizing than healthy individuals.