RESUMO
Objective: To assess the prevalence of stress as an etiological factor for aphthous ulcers and temporomandibular disorders
Study Design: Cross sectional descriptive study
Place and Duration of Study: Armed Forces Institute of Dentistry Rawalpindi, from Oct 2015 to May 2016
Material and Methods: Two groups of patients were selected. Group I included 119 patients presenting with Aphthous Ulcers while group II had 64 subjects with complaints of temporomandibular disorders [TMDs]
After a thorough history, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS] was used to assess stress in the patients. A HADS-A score of 7 was taken as significant anxiety while a HADS-D score of 7 depicted significant depression
Both groups were then subjected to laboratory examinations. Serum cortisol levels were assessed for both groups while Serum Folate, Ferritin and Vitamin B12 level for group I only. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 21 to calculate descriptive statistics including mean and standard deviations as well as frequencies and percentages
Relationship between HADS score and serum cortisol levels was assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient
A p-value<0.05 was considered significant
Results: For TMDs, 53 [82.8%] patients were found positive for stress while for aphthous ulcers, 61 [51.3%] were positive for stress. The correlation between HADS score and serum cortisol levels was found significant for both groups at a p=<0.001
Conclusions: Patients showed a high prevalence of stress as an etiological factor for aphthous ulcers and temporomandibular disorders in a local setting