title: Dental beliefs: factor structure of the revised dental beliefs survey in a group of regular dental patients.
abstract: The aim of this study was to investigate the factor structure of the revised dental beliefs survey (DBS-R) in a group of regular dental patients. The study group consisted of 278 patients (mean age 54 yr), 61% of whom were women. The DBS-R item mean value was 1.6. Principal component analysis (PCA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were performed. The initial PCA among the 28 DBS-R items showed four factors with eigenvalues of > 1 explaining 67% of the total variance. Five different CFA models were tested. The final model revealed a four-factor solution with one second-order factor (i.e. a hierarchical CFA). Thus, the latent second-order variable, 'dental beliefs', explains the variance from all DBS-R items through the four first-order factors labeled 'ethics', 'belittlement', 'communication and empathy', and 'control and anxiety'. The results suggest a somewhat different factor structure of DBS-R than previously reported for dental-fear patients. Hence, the underlying factor structure of the DBS-R may differ between different patient groups. The results point towards the use of the original 28-item DBS-R and interpreting the scale as measuring an overall construct of 'dental beliefs' and thus patients' attitudes and feelings related to dentists and dentistry.
authors.affiliation: Department of Periodontology, The Sahlgrenska Academy, University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden. Kajsa.Henning.Abrahamsson@odontologi.gu.se
authors.forename: Kajsa H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Abrahamsson
authors.forename: Kerstin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Ohrn
authors.forename: Magnus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hakeberg
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003142:Communication; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology*; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D004645:Empathy; D004990:Ethics, Dental; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015233:Models, Statistical; D010510:Periodontal Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D035502:Trust; D055815:Young Adult