Depressive Symptoms Associated With Symptoms of the Temporomandibular Joint Pain and Dysfunction Syndrome

This paper discusses the findings in the 1012 55-year-old inhabitants of Oulu (a medium-sized Finnish town), 780 of whom (77%) were examined. The purpose was to determine the possible associations between depressive symptoms and subjective and clinical symptoms of the temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction syndrome (PDS). The PDS symptoms were determined using Helkimo's Clinical Dysfunction Index. Depressive symptoms in 768 subjects were determined using Zung's self-rating depression scale. The prevalences of high rates of depressive symptoms, subjective symptoms of PDS, and clinical symptoms of PDS in the population were 12.2%, 12.0%, and 4.9%, respectively. Subjective symptoms of PDS were more common in depressed dentate men and women than in nondepressed dentate men and women. There was a significantly higher prevalence of subjective symptoms of PDS in depressed edentulous women than in nondepressed edentulous women. There were significantly more moderate or severe clinical symptoms of PDS in depressed dentate women than in nondepressed dentate women. A similar trend was seen in dentate men. An integrated approach is of crucial importance in the diagnosis and treatment of depression and the temporomandibular joint pain and dysfunction syndrome.