title: Cross validation of a Brazilian version of the Dental Fear Survey.
abstract: The Dental Fear Survey (DFS), a paper and pencil instrument for assessing dental fear and avoidance, has been widely used and validated in fear studies in the US. However, before such instruments are used in countries and cultures dissimilar to the one in which it was developed, they should be cross-validated in that culture. The present study is an examination of the DFS response characteristics in a group of 374 Brazilian university students. Factor analysis of the DFS revealed three factors essentially identical to those found among university students in the US and in Singapore, as well as among US adult dental patients. Higher DFS scores were significantly associated longer intervals since last dental visit. These results are taken as evidence that the DFS performs in this Brazilian sample very much as it does in other samples; and is thus, a valid indicator of dental fear at least among Brazilian university students.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Methodist University of Piracicaba, SP, Brazil.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cesar
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: de Moraes
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Milgrom
authors.forename: R A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Kleinknecht
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis; D003729:Dental Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology*; D003793:Dental Restoration, Permanent / Q000523:psychology; D005239:Fear / Q000145:classification; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012390:Root Canal Therapy / Q000523:psychology; D013997:Time Factors; D014081:Tooth Extraction / Q000523:psychology