Type D Personality and Stomatognathic System Disorders in Physiotherapy Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Magdalena Gębska; Bartosz Dalewski; Łukasz Pałka; Łukasz Kołodziej; Ewa Sobolewska

doi:10.3390/jcm10214892

Type D Personality and Stomatognathic System Disorders in Physiotherapy Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

J Clin Med. 2021 Oct 23;10(21):4892. doi: 10.3390/jcm10214892.

Authors

Magdalena Gębska¹, Bartosz Dalewski², Łukasz Pałka³, Łukasz Kołodziej¹, Ewa Sobolewska²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Rehabilitation Musculoskeletal System, Pomeranian Medical University, 70-204 Szczecin, Poland.
² Department of Dental Prosthetics, Pomeranian Medical University, 70-204 Szczecin, Poland.
³ Private Dental Practice, Rzeszowska 2, 68-200 Żary, Poland.

Abstract

Background: A person's response to stressors is largely dependent on their personality traits that affect the way stress is controlled and relieved. This article is a quantitative analysis assessing the importance of the distressed personality in the development of stomatognathic system disorders (SSDs) in physiotherapy students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Objective: The goal of the research was to assess the presence of type D personality in students with symptoms of stomatognathic system disorders.

Material and method: The research was carried out among 300 physiotherapy students. The data were collected using the form of the occurrence of symptoms of SS disorders developed for the purpose of the study and the standardized psychological DS14 questionnaire.

Results: In a group of 300 students, the presence of type D personality was found in 160 people (53.3%). People with type D personality had symptoms of SS disorders more often than the group without stressful personality traits. There was a significant difference between the groups regarding all the examined symptoms. In the group of people with type D personality, the most frequently reported symptoms of SS disorders included: headache (51.3%), pain in the neck and shoulder girdle (43.1%), and teeth clenching (35.6%). As many as 70% of the respondents in the group with symptoms of SS disorders (P1) had type D personality, whereas in the asymptomatic group (P2) this result was 23.3%. There was a significant difference between the groups (p = 0.00). Statistically significantly higher values of both D personality dimensions were observed in women than in men with symptoms of SS disorders. In people reporting symptoms of SS disorders, higher average values were observed in both dimensions of type D personality. There were significant differences between the groups.

Conclusion: type D personality may contribute to the development of symptoms of stomatognathic disorders.

Keywords: COVID-19; TMD; masticatory; orofacial pain; stomatognathic system; type D personality; type of personality.