The Relationship between Stress and Masticatory Muscle Activity in Female Students.

Grzegorz Zieliński,Katarzyna Rutkowska,Piotr Majcher,Magdalena Zawadka,Piotr Gawda,Zuzanna Podstawka,Michał Ginszt,Jacek Szkutnik

doi:10.3390/jcm10163459

Grzegorz Zieliński, Katarzyna Rutkowska + Show 6 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm10163459

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Abstract

The aim of the study was to analyze the relationship between stress measured by the perceived stress scale (PSS-10) questionnaire and masticatory muscle activity. Experimental design assumed the study of healthy young women without temporomandibular disorders, dividing them into three groups depending on the result of the stress level and then comparing these groups in terms of bioelectrical activity of the masticatory muscles. After the exclusion criteria were applied, 63 female students (mean age: 22.3 ± 2.4 years) from Medical University of Lublin were included in the study. The subjects were then divided into 3 groups: with low (n = 18), medium (n = 18) and high stress level (n = 27), according to PSS-10 results. Resting and functional activity of temporalis anterior (TA) and masseter (MM) muscles were measured by electromyograph BioEMG III. There were statistically significant effects of group on the absolute value of asymmetry index (AsI) of TA and MM during maximum voluntary clenching on dental cotton rollers (both p = 0.02). Post hoc analysis shows that there were statistically significant differences between medium and high stress groups in AsI TA (p = 0.01) and between low and high stress groups in AsI MM (p = 0.02). Perceived stress measured by PSS-10 questionnaire seems to be associated with changes in muscular asymmetry in functional clenching activity.

Highlights

Claude Bernard (1865) found that keeping health depends on maintaining a stable internal environment in the face of changing conditions whereas Cannon (1929) called it “homeostasis” [1]
The analysis showed that there were no significant statistical relationships between psychological stress measured by PSS-10 questionnaire and bioelectrical activity at rest, at occlusion, at occlusion with dental cotton rollers and on maximal opening in female medical students
In determining what the level of disorder was, it was guided by the fact that little of the literature in this subject differentiates the level of stress, and this was only done for patients with temporomandibular disorders (TMD) [2]

Summary

Introduction

Claude Bernard (1865) found that keeping health depends on maintaining a stable internal environment in the face of changing conditions whereas Cannon (1929) called it “homeostasis” [1]. Selye (1956) used the term “stress” to describe the effects of anything that seriously threatens homeostasis [1]. Stress responses have evolved as an adaptive processes, Selye indicated that severe, long-term stress responses can lead to tissue damage and illness [1]. The most common stress-related symptoms affecting mental health can include sleep disorders, depressed mood, sadness, anxiety, irritability, concentration and memory disorders, chronic fatigue syndrome, anorexia and bulimia. Somatic disorders connected to stress will include obesity, type 2 diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome, back pain, osteoporosis, dermatological complications, arteriosclerosis, idiopathic hypertension and ischemia of the heart [2]. Stress is linked to neurological disorders tension headaches and migraine [4,5,6]

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