Prevalence of Bruxism and Associated Occupational Stress in Saudi Arabian Fighter Pilots

Abstract

Objective: To assess the prevalence of bruxism and occupational stress among Saudi Arabian fighter pilots. Methods: This was an observational, cross-sectional study where 110 fighter pilots were compared with 110 control non-pilots. The data collection was carried out between February 2018 and May, 2019. Once subjects consented to the study, they completed a self-administered questionnaire and clinical data were collected from each subject. The short version of Karasek's Demand-Control questionnaire comprising of 11 questions (5 for demand and 6 for control) was used to measure occupational stress. The assessment of bruxism was confirmed using the noninstrumental approach of the International consensus on the assessment of bruxism that included both clinical examination and self-report of diurnal or nocturnal bruxism. A logistic regression test was performed with bruxism as the dependent variable controlling for occupational stress, type of occupation and smoking status. P value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The final sample had an overall bruxism prevalence of 41.8%, with pilots having higher percentage than non-pilots (52.7% and 30.9%, respectively). Pilots were more under occupational stress and exhibited more bruxism compared to non-pilots (OR = 2.2, 95% CI =1.3-3.9 and OR = 2.5, 95% CI =1.4-4.3, respectively). Conclusion: Within the limitations of this study, pilots demonstrated significantly higher occupational stress and bruxism than non-pilots. Pilots were four times more likely to have stress and bruxism compared to non-pilots. Further investigations are necessary to examine a possible causal relationship between occupational stress and bruxism.

Selected Exogenous (Occupational and Environmental) Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Diseases in Military and Aviation

“…Regarding military pilots, occupational stress is of great concern. Al-Khalifa established in Saudi Arabian fighter pilots that they experienced higher occupational stress than non-pilots (45.5% vs. 27.3%) and that the prevalence of bruxism was higher among pilots than in non-pilots (52.7% vs. 30.9%), which made them 3.9 times more likely to have the combination of those two pathological conditions [83]. This may indicate that there is a direct cause end effect relationship between occupational stress, oral stress, and CVD risk.…”