Association of temporomandibular disorder and high frequency of suicide ideation in Korean adolescents: a cross-sectional survey

Background: This study investigated the association between psychological factors and temporomandibular disorder (TMD) in a representative sample using data from the Korean nationwide survey. Methods: The study included 1337 adolescents. Participants provided demographic, socio-economic and behavioural information, and responses to questionnaires assessing their mental health status including perceived stress, depressed mood and suicidal ideation in the presence of TMD. In univariate analysis, t-test was used to test the association between TMD and risk factors by gender in a complex sampling design. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to examine the association between TMD and psychological factors. Results: Male adolescents with TMD were highly engaged with depressed mood and suicidal ideation (p=.0006, p = .0223), however, no psychological factors were significant in female adolescents (p < .05). Male adolescents with both depressed mood and suicidal ideation had significantly high rates of TMD (p = .0024). The risks for experiencing depressed mood (OR: 3.07) and suicidal ideation (OR: 2.564) were significantly associated with TMD in male adolescents after adjusting confounders. Conclusions: The results provide evidence that the depressed mood and suicidal ideation were associated with TMD in male adolescents. This study has important implications for enhanced screening and evaluation of mental health among patients with TMD according to gender.