Sensitivity,Specificity, and the Predictive Value of Facial Electromyographic Data in Diagnosing Myofascial Pain-Dysfunction

Studies have shown uniformly that myofascial pain-dysfunction/temporomandibular (MPD/TM) patients have higher electromyographic (EMG) activity in the head-neck muscles than do non-MPD/TM subjects. However, no attempt has been made to use facial EMG data in diagnosing MPD/TM conditions. This paper explicates four concepts that can, in principle, serve to guide individual diagnosis using EMG data. It then reports an experiment in which resting facial EMG data were acquired from MPD patients and control subjects, and it evaluates preliminarily the diagnostic utility of the EMG information. The conclusion is offered that diagnosis via EMG is sufficiently promising to justify additional research.