The Oral Health Impact Profile: ranking of items for temporomandibular disorders

The study aimed to rank the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-49) items by relevance to temporomandibular disorders (TMD). A modified version of the OHIP-49 was completed by 110 patients with TMD and by age- and gender-matched TMD-free individuals. Patients were diagnosed using the Research Diagnostic Criteria (RDC) for TMD. The modified OHIP included a reference to the 'jaw' and a 1-month reference period. The difference in item prevalence for problems reported fairly/very often (FOVO) between the two groups was calculated for each OHIP item. The FOVO prevalence differences were ranked to reveal the most relevant problems for TMD. Patients' total OHIP scores were higher (60.6, SD = 31.6) than those of controls (17.1, SD = 18.1). Patients scored higher on all items, with 41 items showing a statistically significant difference between the patient score and the control score. The patient-control difference in FOVO item prevalence varied considerably between different items, ranging from 1 to 67%. Substantial differences were noted between patients and controls for a number of specific items, including those relating to pain and physical impact. Smaller differences across most items were also noted, even those not expected to have an impact. The OHIP provides a starting point for a measure of TMD treatment outcome, once items less attributable to TMD are excluded.