A follow-up study of a group of female patients with myofascial pain-dysfunction syndrome

The report is a follow-up study of 108 female patients with myofascial pain-dysfunction (MPD) syndrome who had previously been examined by a multiprofessional team consisting of a dentist, a psychiatrist and physiotherapists. After 1 1/2 year the patients were interviewed concerning possible improvement, present symptoms and perceived gain from the treatment. It was hypothesized that patients with a severely disturbed capacity for interpersonal contact would be the least likely to gain from treatment, regardless of type. This hypothesis was confirmed by the present findings. In addition, another subgroup of patients with apparently good capacity for interpersonal contact also tended to report lack of improvement. These were characterized by stress denial, a mere somatic orientation regarding etiology of symptoms, a manner of giving oral history indicating a distanced relationship to their body, and an expressed disapproval of the psychiatric part of the examination.