Comparisons of measures that evaluate oral and general health quality of life in patients with temporomandibular disorder and chronic pain.

Objective : To analyze the oral and general health related quality of life (HRQOL) measures, and to establish their ability to categorize chronic temporomandibular disorders (TMD). Methods : Data were collected from 104 patients through a questionnaire with detailed socio-demographic information, the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), the Short-Form-36 (SF-36), the Revised Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90-R), and the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) Axis I and II. Descriptive statistics were computed. Results : Better self-rated health and having no muscle pain were the key predictors for better physical HRQOL, whereas higher levels of depression, worse self-rated health and mandibular functioning were highly associated with worse mental HRQOL. The oral HRQOL were significantly lower in TMD patients with higher pain-related disability and worse oral health rating. Discussion : The use of the OHIP-14 in chronic TMD patients may provide valuable clinical information for better assessing the pain-related disability when compared to SF-36.