Clinical presentations and co-morbid factors of patients with myofascial pain or myalgia of masticatory muscles

BACKGROUND AND AIM: This study was aimed to investigate the clinical presentations and frequencies of co-morbid factors in patients with myofascial pain or myalgia of masticatory muscles. METHODS: In this retrospective study, the data were obtained from the documents of the patients with myalgia or myofascial pain of the masticatory muscleswho were conceded toKerman Orofacial Pain Clinic, Kerman, Iran. Their clinical presentations and frequencies of possible related comorbid factors were evaluated. The chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and t-test were used for comparing the distribution of variables. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's honestly significant difference (HSD) test were also used for comparisons between groups. A P-value ≤ ۰.۰۵ was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: Patients with masticatory muscle myalgia or myofascial painconsisted of ۲۹۶ individuals, ۲۵۸ women (۸۷.۷%) and ۳۸ men (۱۲.۳%) with an average age of ۳۴.۰۰ ± ۱۱.۷۵ years (range: ۱۵-۷۵ years). Temporomandibular disorder (TMD) occurred in ۲۵۹ (۸۷.۵%) patients and ۲۶۲ (۸۸.۵%) subjects had headache. A total of ۱۷۸ individuals (۶۰.۱%) reported pain in three parts of the body and ۱۵۵ subjects (۵۲.۴%) had insomnia. Bruxism, other oral para-functional habits, and poor head and neck postures were found in ۱۵۶ (۵۲.۷%), ۱۶۷ (۵۶.۴%), and ۸۰ (۲۷.۰%) subjects, respectively. The frequency of moderate to severe depression and moderate anxiety was ۲۲.۰% of our study population. CONCLUSION: This study stated that the frequency of masticatory muscle pain (MMP) was high in patients with TMD, headache, and psychological disorders and accompanied with insomnia, oral parafunction, and bodily pain.

Keywords:

Myofascial Pain , Myalgia , Masticatory Muscles , Temporomandibular Joint Disorders , Headache