Dental anxiety among adults in Turkey.
OBJECTIVE
This aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of dental anxiety and related factors in a Turkish population.


METHODS
The Turkish translation of the Dental Fear Scale (DFS) and the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) were administered to 115 dental patients consisting of 21 subjects who had dental phobia and of 94 patients who did not. The scales were also administered to a non-clinical general population (N=183).


RESULTS
The Turkish version of the DFS was internally consistent and reproducible. The scale had strong correlations (r=0.80, p<0.001 ) with the MDAS. Female participants scored higher (45.2+/-18.1) on the scale than men (38.2+/-15.7). The DFS had a negative correlation (r=-0.25, p<0.001) with education level. There was a statistically significant difference between dental phobics and the remaining groups on the DFS total score. At a cut-off point 55, the sensitivity of the scale was 0.80, specificity 0.80, positive predictive value 0.48, and negative predictive value 0.95. Thirty-nine subjects (21.3%) in the general population had total scores above this cut-off point.


CONCLUSIONS
Dental fear is common in clinical and non-clinical settings in Turkey. The good psychometric characteristics of the DFS among Turkish participants supports its cross-cultural validity.
Firat
Deniz
D
Department of Oral Surgery, Faculty of Dentistry, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey. refiadeniz@yahoo.com
Tunc
Elif Pak
EP
Sar
Vedat
V
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008347:Manifest Anxiety Scale; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology