Characterizing Jaw Pain After Traumatic Brain Injury: A Case Control Study

ABSTRACT Objectives The primary aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of jaw pain, a common symptom of Temporomandibular disorders (TMD), in participants with and without a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Secondary aims, pertaining only to the TBI cohort, were to compare levels of pain and psychological distress between participants with and without jaw pain. This comparison was conducted in two groups: first, across the entire TBI sample, and second, within a subgroup of TBI participants who reported chronic pain. Methods The study was a secondary analysis of a case–control study of participants examining health and wellness in participants with and without TBI. All participants were asked about the presence and locations of chronic pain, defined as pain lasting ≥ 3 months, identified via the Michigan Body Map. Measures also included PROMIS pain intensity and interference, Pain catastrophizing scale, headache frequency and characterization, Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI), and Post‐traumatic stress disorder checklist‐Civilian (PCL‐C). Results 121 participants with TBI and 118 participants without TBI completed the study. Jaw pain (defined as chronic jaw pain lasting ≥ 3 months) was more prevalent in participants with TBI (12%) compared to participants without TBI (3%) ( p = 0.015). In the entire sample of participants with TBI, those with jaw pain had significantly greater pain interference ( p = 0.001), intensity ( p < 0.001), catastrophizing ( p = 0.02), headache frequency ( p < 0.001), and psychological distress ( p = 0.001) compared to those without jaw pain. Within the Chronic Pain TBI subsample, the same pattern was observed for those with and without jaw pain. Conclusion Jaw pain is significantly more prevalent among participants with a history of TBI compared to those without TBI. This study highlights the association between jaw pain and increased pain intensity, interference, catastrophizing, and headache frequency, suggesting that jaw pain may be exacerbating these factors in TBI patients.