Is Sleep Bruxism Associated With General Quality of Life? Insights From the EPISONO Population-Based Study

The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between sleep bruxism (SB) and general quality of life (QoL) among adults.

This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 692 adults who completed the WHOQOL-Bref questionnaire (mean age of 50.1 years; 385 female and 307 male) from a total of 712 individuals of the Sao Paulo Epidemiological Sleep Study (EPISONO) follow-up performed in 2015. SB was assessed using (1) self-reported SB, based on participants' self-report; (2) PSG-based SB, based on polysomnographic findings; and (3) a combined definition requiring positive self-report and PSG. QoL was assessed using the WHOQOL-Bref scale. Sociodemographic, behavioural, psychosocial, and clinical variables were considered as confounders. The association between SB and QoL (rate of QoL, satisfaction with health and overall), as well as its specific domains (physical health, psychological, social relationships, and environment), was analysed using adjusted Poisson regression models. Results were presented in Rate Ratio (RR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI).

The mean score for the rate of QoL question was 16.6 ± 5.1, whereas satisfaction with health had a mean score of 15.4 ± 6.3. The overall WHOQOL-Bref score was 14.2 ± 3.0. In the adjusted analysis, individuals who self-reported SB had lower satisfaction with their health (RR 0.93; 95% CI 0.88-0.98) and lower QoL levels in the social relationships' domain (RR 0.95; 95% CI 0.92-0.99). The presence of PSG-based and self-report+PSG SB were not significantly associated with QoL scores nor with the specific domains.

The presence of self-report SB was associated with general satisfaction with health and with individual social relationships.