ABSTRACT
Purpose:
to identify the frequency and levels of kinesiophobia and catastrophizing in patients with temporomandibular disorders who had been submitted to speech-language-hearing therapy.
Methods:
the sample comprised patients with myogenous (predominantly) and mixed temporomandibular disorders in the study group and healthy individuals in the control group. The instruments used were the Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, and Pain Catastrophizing Scale. Statistical analyses were performed with the Mann-Whitney test (to compare the means on each scale between the groups) and the Spearman’s correlation coefficient test (to analyze the correlation between the scales in each group and its significance).
Results:
the study group had a higher pain catastrophizing index than the control group. Likewise, the study group had greater kinesiophobia positive indices, whereas the control group had lower ones. A moderate positive correlation was also identified between kinesiophobia and catastrophizing in the study group.
Conclusion:
patients presented with temporomandibular disorders have higher levels of kinesiophobia and catastrophizing than subjects not diagnosed with the disorder.
Keywords:
Temporomandibular Joint Dysfunction Syndrome; Catastrophization; Facial Pain