Self-Medication Profile of Adult Patients with Temporomandibular Disorders in Southeast Brazil

Background: patients with temporomandibular disorder (tmd) often have orofacial pain and may use medication without professional prescription. self-medication and inappropriate drug intake may cause serious health problems. this cross-sectional study evaluated the self-medication profile of tmd patients, the most used medications and their effect, and the relation between self-medication and socioeconomic factors. methods: a non-representative sample (n=358) consisted of consecutive adult patients seeking tmd treatment in specialized referral centers for orofacial pain of two universities in são paulo city, brazil. a standardized questionnaire was used to collect the study variables before the tmd treatment: self-medication history, tmd pain intensity, sex, age, ethnicity, marital status, schooling and socioeconomic levels. data were analyzed by descriptive statistics, chi-square test, and logistic regression models at the 0.05 significance level. results: almost 60% of 358 tmd patients reported self-medication. patients with severe tmd were 4.7 times more likely to self-medicate when compared to patients with low tmd intensity (o=5.7; 95% ci=2.4; 13.3; p=0.043), as well as female patients were 30% more likely to self-medicate compared to male patients (or=2.3; 95% ci=1.1; 5.1; p<0.001). the other independent variables were not associated with self-medication. the frequencies of moderate and severe tmd in women were larger than in those in men (p<0.001). analgesics and anti-inflammatory drugs were the most used medications. regarding medication efficacy, 82% of patients reported some improvement after use, but 9% reported side-effect sickness. conclusion: self-medication is common among tmd patients attending specialized clinics, and this inappropriate practice is more likely to occur in women and in patients with severe signs and symptoms of tmd.