Comorbidities between temporomandibular disorders and somatization in young adults: exploring links with personality, emotional, and sleep disturbances.

Objective: The comorbidities between temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) and somatization and their associations with personality traits, emotional disorders, and sleep disturbances were investigated. Study

Design: Adults aged 18 to 24 years completed an electronic survey encompassing TMD symptoms (5Ts), Patient Health Questionnaire-15, Big Five Personality Inventory-10, Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Data were assessed using non-parametric tests/correlation analysis and logistic regression analysis (α = 0.05).

Results: The sample comprised 365 participants, of whom 22.2% and 19.5% were 5Ts-negative without and with somatization, respectively, and 18.1% and 40.3% were 5Ts-positive without and with somatization, respectively. Significant differences in neuroticism, distress, depression, anxiety, stress, and sleep quality were observed between 5Ts-negative participants with somatization and 5Ts-positive participants with somatization compared with 5Ts-negative participants without somatization and 5Ts-positive participants without somatization. Distress, anxiety, stress, and sleep were moderately correlated with somatic but not TMD symptoms (rs = 0.45-0.52).

Conclusions: Irrespective of whether they had TMDs, participants with somatization exhibited heightened levels of neuroticism and emotional and sleep disturbances.