Treatment for temporomandibular disorders in South Korea: A 9-year trend using cluster analysis

Despite the availability of clinical practice guidelines for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs), research evidence on current clinical practice trends is scarce.

This study aimed to analyse the TMD treatment trends and patterns according to patient characteristics in Korea over a 9-year period.

The 2010-2018 Korean Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service National Patient Sample data were used. A total of 109 969 patients diagnosed with TMD as the principal diagnosis at least once in each year were included in the study. The types of visits and treatments were analysed by year. K-medoids clustering was then performed to analyse the treatment patterns according to patient characteristics.

The most commonly used drugs for pharmacological treatment were non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and relaxants. The prescription of opioids, anxiolytics and antidepressants was reduced. Among non-pharmacological treatments, physiotherapy was the most utilised, and its use increased over the years. Cluster analysis showed that treatment patterns generally differed between sexes; the rate of outpatient visits and the use of NSAIDs, relaxants and physiotherapy were higher among female patients.

This study showed that TMD treatment prescriptions changed from 2010 to 2018 and found notable trends in NSAIDs, relaxants, opioids, anxiolytics, antidepressants and physiotherapy. Moreover, the treatment patterns differed between the sexes. These findings indicate that the prescriptions for TMD treatment changed over the years; these results may be useful in the development of future clinical guidelines and should be reflected in future guidelines.