Temporomandibular disorders and associated comorbidities among brazilian dental students during COVID-19

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) and psychosocial comorbidities in undergraduate dental students in a southern Brazilian university, during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it aimed to verify the association between psychosocial factors and TMD. Methods: Fonseca Anamnestic Index, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21), a socioeconomic questionnaire, and questions about academic performance and social distancing were applied. Poisson regression analysis was used to assess the association of predictive variables with TMD. Results: The prevalence of TMD was found to be 82.4%, and more than half of the students had some degree of stress, anxiety, and depression. Students who had symptoms of stress (RR 1.11; 95% CI 1.04-1.19), anxiety (RR 1.19; 95% CI 1.12-1.27) and reported academic performance worsening (RR 1.12; 95% CI 1.07-1.19) had higher TMD scores. Conclusion: The findings suggest that TMD was highly prevalent among dental students at a federal university in southern Brazil during the pandemic, being associated with high levels of stress, anxiety, poor academic performance, and greater social distancing.