Análise da qualidade da pesquisa atual sobre desordens temporomandibulares em atletas profissionais

Objective: To carry out a systematic review to verify the latest scientific findings related to temporomandibular disorders in professional athletes. Methods: For the studies' selection, PubMed, SPORTDiscus, Lilacs, ScienceDirect Journals (Elsevier), Web of Science, and Scopus databases were used. The full texts of the qualified publications were read and selected for the final decision, meeting the inclusion criteria, after discussion between two reviewers. Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scale was used for qualitative analysis of the studies. The risk of bias was also assessed in seven categories: selection bias, study design, confounding factors, blinding, data collection methods, integrity, and intervention analysis. Data analysis was performed by two examiners independently. Results: The review included 6 independent studies. Most of the articles suffer from uncertainties regarding the selection of the sample and blinding of the evaluations and analyzes. Only two of the studies carried out an outline to control possible confounding factors. Conclusion: Studies on temporomandibular disorders help in the identification and clarification of risk factors that may be prevalent for these subjects, as well as contributing to the development of control and treatment strategies in the case of the presence of these diseases. However, research in this area, especially considering the patient athlete, is incipient, indicating the need for further investigation on the subject.