Table 1.
Temporomandibular disorders pain characteristics of the study population
| Total patients (n = 257) | Male patients (n = 51) | Female patients (n = 206) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ANA/RF (+) (n = 39) |
ANA/RF (−) (n = 218) |
P-value | ANA/RF (+) (n = 4) |
ANA/RF (−) (n = 47) |
P-value | ANA/RF (+) (n = 35) |
ANA/RF (−) (n = 171) |
P-value | |
| Pain duration (months)a | 12 (1.5–36) | 3 (0.8–24) | 0.117 | 27 (3.8–48) | 3 (0.8–27) | 0.233 | 12 (1–33) | 3.5 (0.8–24) | 0.215 |
| Pain intensitya | 45.0 (23.3–67.5) | 46.7 (30–60) | 0.822 | 48.3 (22.5–69.2) | 47 (23.3–60) | 0.699 | 45 (23.3–67.5) | 46.7 (30–60) | 0.620 |
| Disability daysa | 4.5 (0–100) | 10 (0–40) | 0.454 | 100 (12.5–165) | 10 (0–90) | 0.355 | 4 (0–47.5) | 10 (0–32.5) | 0.260 |
| NRS beforea | 6 (3–7) | 5 (3–7) | 0.384 | 6 (3.5–7.8) | 5 (2.3–6) | 0.244 | 6 (3–7) | 5 (3–7) | 0.723 |
| NRS > 5b | 26/39 (66.7%) | 117/205 (57.1%) | 0.292 | 3/4 (75%) | 23/43 (53.5%) | 0.617 | 23/35 (65.7%) | 94/162 (58.0%) | 0.452 |
| Pain on openingb | 20/39 (51.3%) | 114/213 (53.5%) | 0.862 | 2/4 (50%) | 20/46 (43.5%) | 1.000 | 18/35 (51.4%) | 94/167 (56.3%) | 0.709 |
| Pain on eccentric movementb | 20/39 (51.3%) | 98/214 (45.8%) | 0.602 | 2/4 (50%) | 21/46 (45.7%) | 1.000 | 18/35 (51.4%) | 77/168 (45.8%) | 0.580 |
| Comorbidityb | 19/39 (48.7%) | 111/214 (51.9%) | 0.731 | 1/4 (25%) | 19/46 (41.3%) | 0.641 | 18/35 (51.4%) | 92/168 (54.8%) | 0.852 |
| CMOa | 35 (30–46) | 41 (32–47.3) | 0.092 | 38.5 (28.5–41.8) | 47 (42–54) | 0.033* | 33 (30–46) | 39 (30–46) | 0.479 |
| MMOa | 44 (33–49) | 46 (40–50.3) | 0.111 | 42 (31.5–48.8) | 51 (47–55) | 0.016* | 44 (33–49) | 45 (38–49) | 0.783 |
| Capsule palpationa | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–2) | 0.525 | 0.5 (0–4.8) | 0 (0–1) | 0.380 | 0 (0–1) | 0 (0–2) | 0.261 |
| Muscle palpation -masticatorya |
2 (0–7) | 3 (0–6) | 0.689 | 7.5 (1.5–9.8) | 1 (0–4) | 0.071 | 2 (0–6) | 3 (1–6) | 0.155 |
| Muscle palpation -necka |
0 (0–4) | 0 (0–2) | 0.279 | 3 (0.5–7) | 0 (0–1) | 0.022* | 0 (0–4) | 0 (0–2) | 0.861 |
ANA, antinuclear antibody; RF, rheumatoid factor; NRS, numeric rating scale; NRS before, NRS before treatment initiation; CMO, comfortable mouth opening; MMO, maximum mouth opening; Palpation, number of muscle that showed a positive response on palpation; Comorbidity, presence of at least one comorbidity
Pain intensity scores were calculated based on answers to the RDC/TMD Axis II questionnaire (mean score of question #7, 8, 9,10)
aDifferences between group means were tested with Mann-Whitney test: Median (lower quartile - upper quartile)
bDifferences between group means were tested with Chi-square test: number of subjects with a positive response/total number of subjects (percentage of subjects with a positive response)
*Significant difference: p < 0.05