CBT vs alternative treatment: Reduction in pain intensity
- Population
- People aged 12 years and over with painful TMD lasting 3 months or longer
- Intervention
- CBT
- Comparison
- alternative treatment
- Outcome
- Reduction in pain intensity
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) showed no clear difference in pain intensity at treatment completion compared with alternative (active) treatment (e.g. oral splint, medication,… (low certainty).
What each review found
Include earlier review versions| Finding | Effect | Studies | GRADE certainty |
|---|---|---|---|
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) vs Alternative (active) treatment (e.g. oral splint, medication, self-care or disease management) Pain intensity at treatment completion · People aged 12 years and over with painful TMD lasting 3 months or longer · Treatment completion Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) showed no clear difference in pain intensity at treatment completion compared with alternative (active) treatment (e.g. oral splint, medication,… (low certainty). Psychological therapies for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) (2022) · Cochrane All outcomes | SMD 0.03 [-0.21, 0.28] | 5 studies · 509 participants | Low |
Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) vs Alternative (active) treatment (e.g. oral splint, medication, self-care or disease management) Pain intensity at follow-up (6-12 months) · People aged 12 years and over with painful TMD lasting 3 months or longer · Follow-up (6-12 months) Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may leads to lower pain intensity at follow-up (6-12 months) compared with alternative (active) treatment (e.g. oral splint, medication,… (low certainty). Psychological therapies for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) (2022) · Cochrane All outcomes | SMD -0.29 [-0.50, -0.08] | 5 studies · 475 participants | Low |
Findings are shown side by side, never pooled across reviews.
The reviews
| Review | Searched up to | Included studies | AMSTAR 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Psychological therapies for temporomandibular disorders (TMDs) 2022 · Cochrane All outcomes | 2021-10 | Not listed | Not assessed |
Related questions
The same intervention and outcome, asked in another population or against another comparator.
- CBT vs TAU · chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults · 2 reviews
- CBT vs inactive control (usual care care, attention control, waitlist) · People aged 12 years and over with painful TMD lasting 3 months or longer · 1 review
- CBT vs AC · chronic pain (excluding headache) in adults · 1 review
How reviews are matched to this question
Reviews word the same question differently. Four decision models (TypeSafe's Jev, Liquid AI's d1-ultra, SubQ Snap and Baseten's Elephant) judged each wording of the population, intervention, comparator and outcome against the others; two wordings count as the same when at least three of them agree and none clearly disagrees, and findings count as this question only when all four elements match. Timing, setting and subgroup never split a question: they are shown on each finding.