Somatic and temporomandibular disorder symptoms - Idioms of psychological distress in Southeast Asian youths

• Published in: Cranio 2024-07, Vol.ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print), p.1-8
• Main Authors: Yap, Adrian Ujin, Sultana, Rehena, Natu, Vaishali Prakash
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; anxiety; Anxiety - epidemiology; Asia, Southeastern; depression; Depression - epidemiology; Depression - psychology; Female; Humans; Male; Medically Unexplained Symptoms; Prevalence; Psychological Distress; Risk Factors; Sex Factors; Somatization; Southeast Asian People; stress; Stress, Psychological - epidemiology; temporomandibular disorders; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders - epidemiology; Temporomandibular Joint Disorders - psychology; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0886-9634; 2151-0903; 2151-0903
• DOI: 10.1080/08869634.2021.1982496

To evaluate the prevalence/severity of somatic and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) symptoms in Southeast Asian youths and determine their associations with psychological distress. Demographic information, Patient Health Questionnaire-15 (PHQ-15), Fonseca Anamnestic Index (FAI), and Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21) responses were gathered electronically and analyzed using non-parametric statistical and logistic regression analysis (p < 0.05). Of 400 youths (mean age 18.7 ± 1.7 years; 52.3% females), 65.0%/47.0% reported somatic/TMD symptoms, and 10.5% had TMDs. Significant differences in psychological distress were observed among the varying severity of somatic/TMD symptoms. Correlations between PHQ-15/FAI and DASS-21 scores were weak to moderately strong (r s  = 0.30-0.61). Stepwise logistic regression indicated that female gender, TMD symptoms, and stress were risk factors for somatic symptoms, while somatic symptoms and stress were probable factors for TMDs. Somatic and TMD symptoms are common in Southeast Asian youths and may be a manifestation of psychological distress.