title: Design and preliminary validation of the verbal skill scale in the dental setting: an anxiety scale for children.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to design and examine the validity of a scale that uses the verbal performance of children as an indicator of dental anxiety.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 128 healthy 4- to 6-year-olds were included. The first sessions consisted of a dental examination; in the second session, identical dental treatment was provided to all subjects. In each session, a short communication was done for verbal assessment. During treatment, Frankl and clinical anxiety rating scales were utilized to assess the child's anxiety. Construct validity was assessed using Spearman's correlation coefficient; a factor analysis, concurrent validity, and inter-rater reliability were determined by kappa agreement statistics. Chi-square and Fisher's exact tests were used to assess the difference between sexes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The agreement between the raters was high and significant (k=0.71, P<.001). Intraclass correlation coefficient of 50 same children (28 boys and 22 girls) across a 2-week period showed a strong correlation (correlation=0.8, P<.001). Spearman's correlation coefficient revealed a high and significant correlation between the measures (P<.001). The kappa values ranged from 0.58 to 0.67, suggesting moderate to good agreement between measures.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The verbal skill scale is a reliable and valid measure of assessing child dental anxiety in a clinical context.
authors: Department of Pediatric Dentistry, Faculty of Dentistry, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran. aslaminabadi@gmail.com
authors: Naser Asl
authors: NA
authors: Aminabadi
authors: Azin
authors: A
authors: Sohrabi
authors: Sina Ghertasi
authors: SG
authors: Oskouei
authors: Saba
authors: S
authors: Aghaee
authors: Zahra
authors: Z
authors: Jamali
authors: Morteza
authors: M
authors: Ghojazadeh
mesh_terms: D019540:Area Under Curve; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003448:Crying; D016854:Dental Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003729:Dental Care / Q000523:psychology; D003812:Dentist-Patient Relations; D005149:Facial Expression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011594:Psychometrics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012372:ROC Curve; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012737:Sex Factors; D014705:Verbal Behavior