Psychological status of TMD patients, orthodontic patients and the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Confronting the outbreak of COVID-19, this cross-sectional study was aimed to assess psychological status of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) patients, orthodontic patients and the general population in China during the pandemic. An online anonymous questionnaire was developed in Chinese, including the individual background information, the perception of the epidemic, and level of anxiety and depression through Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K10). The respondents were divided into ORTHO group, TMD group and Control group. Descriptive analysis and multiple linear regression modelling were performed. In total, 1241 valid questionnaires were collected, covering 587 orthodontic patients and 220 TMD patients. It is shown that the overall mental health is not quite optimistic during the COVID-19 pandemic with the mean score of K10 being 18.65. TMD patients have higher level of anxiety and depression than orthodontic patients as well as the general population. Younger age, female gender, having close contact with individuals from Hubei province, higher self-rated infection possibility, concern about psychological barriers and distrust are negatively affecting patients' psychological status. Mental health care should be emphasized when hospitals and clinics reopen after the COVID-19 pandemic, especially to patients with these relevant characteristics.

Effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety in patients with masticatory muscle pain

“…Women have been reported to undergo greater psychological disturbances than men, 1,4 in contrast to the results of the present study. The variations in the results may be related to the differences in the number of participants among studies.…”

“…A few studies have related to TMDs and anxiety in individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, 3,4,29 but the authors are unaware of a previous study comparing the anxiety levels in patients diagnosed with masticatory muscle pain before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The null hypothesis was rejected as COVID-19 had a strong association with anxiety in patients who were already suffering from masticatory muscle pain.…”

“…All these conditions, which negatively affected human lives, may have had psychological impacts. 3,4 Psychosocial factors have been reported in the etiology of temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), and psychological stress has been suggested to be a predisposing factor for TMDs. [5][6][7][8] TMD is a clinical term that covers problems involving the masticatory muscles, the temporomandibular joints (TMJs), or both.…”

Patients’ perceptions of orthodontic treatment experiences during COVID-19: a cross-sectional study

“…It has been extensively adopted to evaluate the anxiety of patients in the dental and medical fields [ 2 , 15 , 19 ]. Introduced in the annual US National Health Interview Survey [ 8 ], translated into eleven different languages [ 46 , 47 ], and used as a screening tool for mental disorders in various situations [ 46 , 48 , 49 ] made it among the most reliable and valid tools to assess the psychological impact of the pandemic on orthodontic patients [ 19 , 50 ]. Given its widespread utilization in survey research methodologies, we sought to integrate this tool in our survey design.…”

“…Using the Kessler Scale (K10) , Xiong et al [ 19 ] evaluated the mental health of orthodontic patients in China during the early phases of the pandemic and found that over one-third of the patients experienced mental distress. Earlier, Wu et al [ 50 ] compared the psychological status between temporomandibular disorders (TMD), orthodontic patients, and the general population and concluded that TMD patients had a higher level of anxiety than the other two groups during the pandemic in China. Moreover, in another attempt to evaluate the impact of coronavirus pandemic on orthodontic appointments and orthodontic patients’ anxiety without the use of the Kessler Scale (K10), Cortin et al [ 15 ] showed that patients willing to attend an orthodontic appointment had a lower level of anxiety than those who would not go.…”