On the assessment of dental health care attitudes in 1986 and 1995, using the dental attitude questionnaire.
OBJECTIVE
To re-establish and update the empirical data obtained in 1986 with the Dental Attitude Questionnaire.


METHODS
In 1995 this questionnaire, presented earlier by Hoogstraten and Broers (1986), was completed in a similar setting using similar subjects as in 1985, to make a comparison between 1986 and 1995 possible.


METHODS
375 persons, all first grade psychology students who participated for additional course credit. Mean age was 21.7 years, 65 per cent were female.


RESULTS
Data show a change in oral health care attitudes and a change in the internal consistency of the DAQ subscales, making the present version of the questionnaire inadequate for measuring present oral health care attitudes.


CONCLUSIONS
This study has shown once more the importance of conducting replication studies after relatively long periods of time in order to update the psychometric characteristics of questionnaires.
Timmerman
E M
EM
Department of Psychological Methods, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Hoogstraten
J
J
Meijer
K
K
Nauta
M
M
Eijkman
M A
MA
D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires