title: Painful temporomandibular disorders are common in patients with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome and impact significantly upon quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To explore the point prevalence of painful temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in a well-characterized clinical cohort of postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) sufferers and to understand the functional and physiologic impact of this comorbidity on the patient.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with PoTS were retrospectively recruited from a previous study conducted in a UK hospital setting. Data had previously been collected on several parameters, including sociodemographic, physiologic, and functional. The participants were mailed a highly sensitive (99%) and specific (97%) self-report screening instrument for painful TMD. Simple descriptive statistics with Fisher Exact and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used to examine the data and draw inferences from it.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 36 individuals responded (69% response rate). Just under half (47%) of the sample screened positive for painful TMD. There was no significant difference between the screening result for TMD or previously reported headaches or joint pain (P < .05). Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was diagnosed by the Fukuda Criteria in 44% of the total sample and in 56% of those with painful TMD. There were no significant differences in physiologic parameters in CFS and TMD. TMD caused a significant decrease in quality of life as measured by the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System, Health Assessment Questionnaire (P < .05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TMD are common in patients with PoTS. They have a significant, additional impact on patients' quality of life and should therefore be screened for at an early stage in PoTS.
authors.forename: Justin
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Durham
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: McDonald
authors.forename: Luke
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hutchinson
authors.forename: Julia L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Newton
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001342:Autonomic Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications; D001794:Blood Pressure / Q000502:physiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003863:Depression / Q000523:psychology; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054972:Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D057566:Self Report; D012894:Sleep Stages / Q000502:physiology; D013705:Temporomandibular Joint Disorders / Q000150:complications* / Q000523:psychology