The association between problematic smartphone use and the severity of temporomandibular disorders: A cross-sectional study

Adolescents smartphone screen time and its association with caries symptoms experience from the Korea youth risk behavior web-based survey 2020-2021

Adolescence is a time when important changes occur in behavioral development, and previous studies have confirmed the relationship between excessive Internet use and decreased oral health behavior. Our purpose is to identify the indirect effects and behavioral factors of smartphone screen time on the caries symptom experience of adolescents. Using data from the 16-17th Korea youth risk behavior web based survey (2020-2021), we investigated the smartphone screen time of 109,796 students in middle school 1st to high school 3rd. Adolescents who used smartphones more than 6 h per week were 28% more likely to experience caries symptoms than those who used smartphones less than 2 h (odds ratio = 1.28; 95% confidence interval, 1.22-1.35). Those who consumed cariogenic drinks more than once a day were 25% more likely to experience caries symptoms, and those who brushed their teeth less than once a day were 26% more likely to experience caries symptoms (odds ratio = 1.25, 1.26; 95% confidence interval, 1.07-1.46, 1.06-1.51). Excessive smartphone screen time is associated with addictive eating habits and reduced physical activity that increase cariogenic dietary behaviors, and decrease oral health behaviors. It suggests that excessive smartphone use indirectly related to the experience of caries symptoms.

Trends and Influencing Factors in Problematic Smartphone Use Prevalence (2012-2022): A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Given that problematic smartphone use (PSU) has been researched for a long time, it becomes necessary to assess how the trends of PSU prevalence have evolved over time. In total, 106 articles from 2012 to 2022 with 109 studies covering 97,748 individuals were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. The estimation of the global pooled PSU prevalence was 37.1% (95% confidence interval, 33.5 - 40.8%) and the PSU prevalence is growing over time in total. Although the PSU prevalence exhibited wide variation between regions and measurement scales, the increasing trend remained. In addition, the regression slope of the PSU prevalence trend in males was higher than that in females. Males initially had a lower prevalence of PSU than females, but this steadily changed over time until it was greater in males than in females. Moreover, the prevalence of PSU showed an increasing trend across all age groups, with a faster growth rate in the older age group. Considering the aforementioned results, it's necessary to implement proper interventions to do with this phenomenon. In addition, considering the differences in prevalence brought by regions, and measurement scales, in practice and research, we should not only take into account the disparities of PSU between countries or cultures, but also to concern about establishing unified standard and measurement tools to confirm it.

A tree-based corpus annotated with Cyber-Syndrome, symptoms, and acupoints

Prolonged and over-excessive interaction with cyberspace poses a threat to people's health and leads to the occurrence of Cyber-Syndrome, which covers not only physiological but also psychological disorders. This paper aims to create a tree-shaped gold-standard corpus that annotates the Cyber-Syndrome, clinical manifestations, and acupoints that can alleviate their symptoms or signs, designating this corpus as CS-A. In the CS-A corpus, this paper defines six entities and relations subject to annotation. There are 448 texts to annotate in total manually. After three rounds of updating the annotation guidelines, the inter-annotator agreement (IAA) improved significantly, resulting in a higher IAA score of 86.05%. The purpose of constructing CS-A corpus is to increase the popularity of Cyber-Syndrome and draw attention to its subtle impact on people's health. Meanwhile, annotated corpus promotes the development of natural language processing technology. Some model experiments can be implemented based on this corpus, such as optimizing and improving models for discontinuous entity recognition, nested entity recognition, etc. The CS-A corpus has been uploaded to figshare.

Temporomandibular disorder patients with excessive daytime sleepiness present greater pain intensity and reduced jaw function

BACKGROUND

Sleep disorders are associated with temporomandibular disorders (TMDs). Limited studies have focused on excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) and its impact on jaw functions in TMD patients.

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the present investigation was to identify the impact of EDS on pain and jaw function in TMD patients.

METHODS

A total of 338 TMD patients (50 males and 288 females) was included. The Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) was used to classify patients into EDS group (score ≥ 10) and non-EDS group (score < 10). The Jaw Functional Limitation Scale 8-item (JFLS-8) was used to assess the severity of jaw dysfunction. Pain intensity was evaluated using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Anxiety and depression were evaluated using the Generalised Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) and the Patient Health Questionnaire 9-item (PHQ-9). All included patients were diagnosed with pain-related TMD (PT), intra-articular TMD (IT) or combined TMD (CT).

RESULTS

Compared with non-EDS patients, EDS patients exhibited more severe jaw dysfunction, greater pain intensity and higher PHQ-9 scores (p < .05). Multivariate analyses showed that EDS (B = 3.69), female gender (B = 3.69), and elevated GAD-7 score (B = 0.73) were significantly associated with an increased score on the JFLS-8 (p < .05). Moreover, bivariate logistic regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between EDS and PT (OR = 2.70, p = .007).

CONCLUSION

The presence of EDS was more closely related to PT, but the causal relationship between them needs to be further confirmed. More concern and intervention to alleviate poor sleep quality might be highlighted during the treatment of TMD, especially PT subtype.

Comparison of disc position stability and condylar bone remodeling between two open disc repositioning surgeries: a retrospective single-center cohort study

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Open suturing (OSu) and Mini-screw Anchor (MsA) are two commonly used open disc repositioning surgeries for anterior disc displacement (ADD) of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ). This study assesses the differences in disc position stability (DPS) and condylar bone remodeling (CBR) between these two surgical procedures in a single center.

METHODS

A retrospective cohort study using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans (preoperation, 1 week and 12 mo postoperation) of all patients who had open TMJ disc repositioning surgery from January 2016 to June 2021 at one center through two surgical techniques (OSu and MsA) was performed. The predictor variable was technique (OSu and MsA). Outcome variables were DPS and CBR. During follow-up, DPS was rated as good, acceptable and poor, and CBR was graded as improved, unchanged, and degenerated. Multivariate analysis was used to compare the DPS and CBR at 12 months after adjusting 5 factors including age, sex, Wilkes stage, preoperative bone status (normal, mild/moderate abnormal) and the degree of disc repositioning (normal, overcorrected, and posteriorly repositioned). Relative risk (RR) for DPS and CBR was calculated by multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

385 patients with 583 joints were included in the study. MRIs at 12 months showed that 514 joints (93.5%) had good DPS, and 344 joints (62.5%) had improved CBR. Multivariate analysis revealed that OSu had higher DPS (RR=2.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.27 to 6.85) and better CBR (RR=1.58; 95%CI, 1.02 to 2.46) than MsA. Among the factors affecting DPS, females had better results than males (RR=2.63; 95%CI, 1.11 to 6.26) and overcorrected or posteriorly repositioned discs were more stable than normally-repositioned discs (RR=5.84; 95%CI, 2.58 to 13.20). The improvement in CBR decreased with age increasing (RR=0.91; 95%CI, 0.89 to 0.93). Preoperative mild/moderate abnormal bone status had a higher probability of improved CBR compared to normal preoperative bone status (RR=2.60; 95%CI, 1.76 to 3.83).

CONCLUSION

OSu had better DPS and CBR than MsA. Sex and the degree of disc repositioning impacted DPS, while age and preoperative bone status affected CBR.

Relationship between musculoskeletal discomfort and cell phone use among young adults: A cross-sectional survey

BACKGROUND

Cell phone usage is highly prevalent among young adults. They are used for multiple purposes including communication, studies, social networking and entertainment. However, its excessive usage has been associated with adverse health outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

The objective was to find the association of cell phone usage with musculoskeletal discomfort (MSD) and its associated factors.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted on young adult students from a low-middle income country over a period of 3 months from December 2018 to February 2019. A structured questionnaire based on the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (QuickDASH scoring) was used to record the musculoskeletal discomfort.

RESULTS

Out of 803 questionnaires, data of 754 (94%) were entered and the remaining questionnaires (n = 49) were discarded due to incomplete answers. The mean age was 20.83 (1.62) years. In our study, there were 194 (25.7%) males and 560 (74.3%) female participants. Neck and shoulder were the most frequently affected regions. A significant difference in QuickDASH score was observed between genders (p-value p ≤ 0.001). Left-handed individuals scored significantly higher on QuickDASH score compared to right-handed individuals (p < 0.05). Increased musculoskeletal discomfort was reported by individuals with daily cell phone use of more than four hours (p < 0.05). A positive significant correlation was found between continuous one hour cell-phone use and higher mean QuickDASH scores (correlation coefficient 0.124, p value 0.001). Shorter eye-to-screen distance was significantly associated with MSD (p < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

Musculoskeletal discomfort is associated with the female gender, duration of cell phone use and a small eye-to-screen distance.