Craniomandibular disorders in elderly with psoriasis

A questionnaire survey was carried out to determine the prevalence of craniomandibular (CM) disorders in relation to age in psoriasis. Of the 1776 psoriatics, 85.4% responded; 1050 of them had psoriasis with skin symptoms only (P), and 400 had both skin and joint symptoms (PA). No statistically significant differences could be found between older (greater than or equal to 65 yrs) and younger (less than 65 yrs) psoriatics in either the P-group or the PA-group as regards the severity of subjective symptoms of CM disorders. In the P-group the younger psoriatics reported more frequent (30%) subjective symptoms than the older ones did (19%) (p less than 0.05), but no difference was found in the PA-group (51% and 41%, respectively) (NS). The most frequently reported symptoms in all age groups were temporomandibular joint (TMJ) sounds and TMJ pain during function. TMJ sounds were significantly less frequently reported by the older than the younger psoriatics both in the P-group and the PA-group (p less than 0.01 and p less than 0.05, respectively). It can be concluded that, apart from TMJ sounds, the frequency and severity of symptoms of CM disorders are not related to age in psoriasis.