Stress and emotional distress: their associations with somatic and temporomandibular disorder-related symptoms

ABSTRACT

Although Asians are posited to be predisposed to somatization, studies on the inter-relationships between emotional and physical symptoms in Asian youths are still limited. This study determined the associations between emotional, somatic, and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD)-related symptoms in Asian youths. Youths were recruited from a local polytechnic and the prevalence/severity of emotional distress was ascertained with the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21. Somatic and TMD-related symptoms were appraised with the Patient Health Questionnaire-15 and Fonseca Anamnestic Index. Data were analysed using non-parametric statistical and logistic regression analysis (p < 0.05). The study sample (n = 400; 209 females) had a mean age of 18.7 ± 1.7 years. Moderate-to-severe depression, anxiety, and stress were present in 31.0%, 36.8%, and 16.5% of the subjects respectively. Subjects with moderate-to-severe emotional distress had significantly higher somatic and TMD symptom scores (p < 0.001). Correlations between emotional and somatic/TMD symptom scores were moderately strong (r_s = 0.46–0.61). Stepwise logistic regression indicated that moderate-to-severe somatization was associated with the female gender, anxiety, and stress, and moderate-to-severe TMDs were related to somatization and stress. Asian youths with elevated emotional distress experienced significantly higher levels of somatic and TMD-related symptoms. The stress construct appears to pose a greater risk for somatization and TMDs than depression and anxiety.

KEYWORDS:

• Depression
• anxiety
• stress
• somatization
• temporomandibular disorders

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Ansari A, Ali I, and the students of the Oral Health Therapy programme for supporting this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The authors have no funding to disclose.