RT  - Journal of Oral & Facial Pain and Headache
ID  - 10.11607/jofph.7104
T1  - Comparison of Psychologic and Physiologic Functioning Between Patients With Masticatory Muscle Pain and Matched Controls
A1  - Charles R. Carlson
A1  - Jeffrey P. Okeson
A1  - Donald A. Falace
A1  - Arthur J. Nitz
A1  - Shelly L. Curran
A1  - Donald Anderson
YR  - 1993
SP  - 15
AB  - <p>This study explored the physiologic and psychologic distinctions between masticatory muscle pain patients and age and sex-matched normal controls. Subjects completed several standardized psychologic tests. They then underwent a laboratory stress profile evaluation to obtain physiologic measures (EMG, heart rate, systolic and diastolic blood pressure) under conditions of rest, mental stress, and relaxation. The pain patients reported greater anxiety, especially cognitive symptoms, and feelings of muscle tension than did the controls. Under stress, pain patients had higher heart rates and systolic blood pressure than the controls. Electromyogram activity in the masseter regions was not significantly different between the pain and control group. The results are discussed in terms of the likely mechanisms that might account for the observed differences between masticatory pain patients and normal subjects.</p>