Prevalence and associations of temporomandibular disorders in older Brazilian adults.

Abstract

The objective of the study was to estimate the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and describe associations in a representative sample of community-dwelling older Brazilian adults. TMD cause recurrent or chronic pain and dysfunction with substantial impacts on quality of life, but little is known of their occurrence and associated factors among older adults. This was a cross-sectional study using data from the second wave of the Brazilian Longitudinal Study of Aging, a nationally representative sample of older Brazilian adults aged 50 or older. The presence of temporomandibular disorder symptoms was measured by the Fonseca Anamnestic Index. Independent variables included sociodemographic characteristics, general health conditions and self-reported oral health measures. The association between the independent variables and TMD symptoms was evaluated using logistic regression models. Complete information for the variables of interest was available for 9391 individuals. The overall prevalence of TMD symptoms was 18.0% (95% CI 14.4-22.1). Relative to older adults aged 50-59 those in all age categories had lower odds of TMD symptoms. Individuals with depression, pain, sleep problems and self-reported poor general health had higher odds of reporting TMD symptoms. None of the oral health measures were related to TMD. The prevalence of TMD symptoms among Brazilian older adults is associated with demographic and general health conditions, but not with dentition status.