Temporomandibular disorders in children and adolescents: reliability of a questionnaire, clinical examination, and diagnosis

Abstract

Recently developed Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) have been shown to be reliable for diagnosing and assessing TMD in U.S. and Swedish adult populations; however, few studies have focused on clinical examination methods and diagnostic criteria for use with children and adolescents. The present study used a sample of 50 Swedish children and adolescents, aged 12 to 18 years, to evaluate usefulness and reliability of existing and specially developed measures and methods for assessing and diagnosing TMD in youth. Subjects underwent repeated clinical exams by two calibrated examiners to assess signs and symptoms per the RDC/TMD, and they responded to a specially developed self-administered questionnaire that addressed location and frequency of TMD-related pain and symptoms, jaw function, effect of pain on daily activities, and use of pain medications. Interexaminer and intraexaminer reliability was assessed for clinical examination, questionnaire items, and diagnosis. Reliability values ranged from acceptable to excellent for the RDC/TMD clinical exam and questionnaire, and from good to excellent reliability for measuring virtually all modified clinical parameters of TMD assessed in these young patients.