Characteristics of dental fear among Arabic-speaking children: a descriptive study

BMC Oral Health

Douaa A El Derwi¹  Najat M Farsi³  Najlaa M Alamoudi⁴  Azza A El-Housseiny² 

[1] Public Health and Community Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt;Paediatric Dentistry Department, Professor of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt;Paediatric Dentistry Department, Professor of Paediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia;Head of Paediatric Dentistry Department, Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

关键词: Assessment;    Factor analysis;    CFSS-DS;    Arabic version;    Anxiety;    Child dental fear;   

Others  :  1091741
DOI  :  10.1186/1472-6831-14-118

 received in 2014-05-28, accepted in 2014-09-18,  发布年份 2014

【 摘 要 】

Background

Dental fear has not only been linked to poor dental health in children but also persists across the lifespan, if unaddressed, and can continue to affect oral, systemic, and psychological health. The aim of this study was to assess the factor structure of the Arabic version of the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS), and to assess the difference in factor structure between boys and girls.

Methods

Participants were 220 consecutive paediatric dental patients 6–12 years old seeking dental care at the Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Participants completed the 15-item Arabic version of the CFSS-DS questionnaire at the end of the visit. Internal consistency was assessed using Cronbach’s alpha. Factor analysis (principal components, varimax rotation) was employed to assess the factor structure of the scale.

Results

The Cronbach’s alpha was 0.86. Four factors with eigenvalues above 1.00 were identified, which collectively explained 64.45% of the variance. These factors were as follows: Factor 1, ‘fear of usual dental procedures’ consisted of 8 items such as ‘drilling’ and ‘having to open the mouth’, Factor 2, ‘fear of health care personnel and injections’ consisted of three items, Factor 3, ‘fear of strangers’, consisted of 2 items. Factor 4, ‘fear of general medical aspects of treatment’, consisted of 2 items. Notably, four factors of dental fear were found in girls, while five were found in boys.

Conclusions

Four factors of different strength pertaining to dental fear were identified in Arabic-speaking children, indicating a simple structure. Most items loaded high on the factor related to fear of usual dental procedures. The fear-provoking aspects of dental procedures differed in boys and girls. Use of the scale may enable dentists to determine the item/s of dental treatment that a given child finds most fear-provoking and guide the child’s behaviour accordingly.

【 授权许可】

   
2014 El-Housseiny et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

Figure 1.

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