Parasympathetic Reactivity in Fibromyalgia and Temporomandibular Disorder: Associations With Sleep Problems, Symptom Severity, and Functional Impairment

• Chronic pain predicted parasympathetic dampening during psychosocial assessment.
• Parasympathetic dampening during assessment predicted poorer outcomes.
• Findings held after controlling for baseline parasympathetic activity.

Despite evidence of autonomic disturbances in chronic multisymptom illnesses such as temporomandibular disorder (TMD) and fibromyalgia, additional work is needed to characterize the role of parasympathetic reactivity in these disorders. Given the high levels of comorbidity with psychiatric disorders characterized by stronger parasympathetic decline than controls in safe contexts (leading to higher arousal), it was hypothesized that individuals with TMD and fibromyalgia would respond similarly. In this preliminary investigation, 43 women with TMD (n = 17), TMD + fibromyalgia (n = 11), or neither (controls; n = 15) completed a baseline assessment of respiratory sinus arrhythmia (a measure of parasympathetic activity) followed by ongoing parasympathetic assessment during a questionnaire period. As predicted, patients showed greater parasympathetic decline during psychosocial assessment, suggesting an autonomic stance that supports defensive rather than engagement behaviors. Individual differences in parasympathetic reduction during the questionnaire period were related to a variety of physical and psychosocial variables. Although this study has a number of key limitations, including a convenience sampling approach and small group sizes, if replicated in larger samples, the findings would have important implications for the treatment of patients with these disorders.PerspectiveCompared to controls, individuals with TMD or TMD and fibromyalgia demonstrated greater parasympathetic decline during psychosocial assessment, and individual differences in parasympathetic decline predicted negative patient outcomes. Such parasympathetic decline may demonstrate a tendency to readily perceive danger in safe environments.