General health quality of life in patients with temporomandibular disorders in a population- based cross-sectional study in Southern Brazil

Purpose: To assess the impact of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) on general health quality of life in a Brazilian population-based cross-sectional survey. Materials and Methods: A total of 1,643 patients were assessed using the World Health Organization Quality of Life Bref (WHOQOL-Bref) and the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders Axes I and II (RDC/TMD). Cross-tabulation of the data was carried out to compare TMD subjects to controls in all domains of the WHOQOL-Bref and the RDC/TMD. Results: TMD subjects had significantly worse quality of life than controls in Axes I and II of the RDC/TMD and in all WHOQOL-Bref domains except for disc displacement. Osteoarthrosis was significantly different only in the WHOQOL-Bref physical domain. Conclusion: TMD subjects had worse general health quality of life, particularly in Axis I groups with higher pain/disability levels (muscle disorders/arthralgia/arthritis).