[Temporo-mandibular disorders and family functioning].

OBJECTIVE

To compare family functionality of patients with and without temporomandibular disorders (TMD).

METHODS

A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted with 130 patients attending to a maxillofacial surgery service.

SELECTION CRITERIA: patient with or without TMD, age between 18 and 60 years, able to read and write and accepted to participate in the study. We registered sociodemographic variables, and we applied a questionnaire to identify risk factors for TMD, and finally intensity of pain was measure by a visual analogous scale. All patients were clinically evaluated to ascertain TMD according to the research diagnostic criteria for TMD proposed by Dworkin in 1992. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale III (FACES-III) was used to evaluate family functionality.

RESULTS

The mean of age was 34 +/- 10 years, ratio women : men, was 2 : 1; 67.7% were married or had a partner; the mean of education was 14 +/- 3.5 years; 56 % of women had TMD; 67.6 % had familiar dysfunction.

CONCLUSIONS

Families of patients with TMD were dysfunctional more frequently and this suggests a relation.