Association of symptoms of TMD and orofacial pain with alexithymia: An epidemiological study of the Northern Finland 1966 Birth Cohort

Alexithymia is a term denoting a deficit in the ability to differentiate em otional from physical states and to identify and describe one's feelings, a s well as a preference for external oriented thinking. Alexithymia has been linked with various somatic and psychosomatic diseases, especially with ch ronic pain. The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between a lexithymia and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) as well as oro -lingual and dental pain, in a large representative population sample of yo ung adults. The study was a part of the 31-year follow-up study of the Nort hern Finland Birth Cohort originally consisting of 12058 live births in the year 1966. In 1997, 4893 subjects living in northern Finland or in the cap ital area, who participated in a field study of the project and later retur ned a postal questionnaire, made up the sample of this study. Information c oncerning symptoms of TMD and oro-lingual and dental pain was collected fro m the subjects. To assess alexithymia, the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20 (TA S-20) was used. In addition, information about depression, marital status a nd self-rated health was collected. The proportion of alexithymics (TAS sco re over 60) was higher in subjects with the most orofacial symptoms than in asymptomatic subjects. In men, alexithymia associated significantly with f acial pain, difficulties in mouth opening, oro-lingual pain and dental pain , and in women with pain on jaw movement and dental pain. After adjusting f or depression, marital status, and self-rated health, a significant associa tion remained between alexithymia and the symptoms mentioned, except for fa cial pain in men. It can be concluded that alexithymia is connected with or ofacial symptoms. Clinicians treating these symptoms should be familiar wit h the concept of alexithymia.