Sleep quality evaluation in patients with temporomandibular disorders

Aims The present study psychometrically assessed clinical profiles of subjective sleep quality in patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), one of the most widely used standardized measures to evaluate subjective sleep quality, that generates a global score and scores seven components: subjective sleep quality, sleep latency, sleep duration, habitual sleep efficiency, sleep disturbances, use of sleeping medication, and daytime dysfunction. Materials and Methods The PSQI was administered to 227 consecutive patients at the first visit. The visits were conducted by the same operator and the diagnosis was performed following the Research Diagnostic Criteria for temporomandibular disorders (RDC/TMD). Results 56.83% of the patients could be classified as poor sleepers. To investigate possible associations among sleep quality and psychological distress, the good and the poor sleepers’ mean scores on the Axis II of the RDC/TMD variables were compared. All the differences were found to be statistically significant. A multiple-regression analysis was performed to identify the strongest independent predictors of total sleep quality. The depression score emerged as the strongest overall. Conclusions The data suggest that poor sleepers experience more severe psychological symptoms than good sleepers and confirm the frequent comorbidity of reported sleep disturbance and psychological symptoms in TMD patients.