Modified Dental Anxiety Scale and its Psychometric Properties in an Adult Population in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.60787/tnhj.v17i2.289Keywords:
Psychometric, Modified Dental Anxiety Scale, Dental anxiety, CorrelationsAbstract
Background: The validation of an instrument is necessary before it can be introduced for use in any community. The aim of the study was to evaluate the psychometric properties of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale in an adult Nigerian population and to assess the validity and internal consistency of the measure.
Methods: The Modified Dental Anxiety Scale questionnaire was administered to 160 University students. Data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 20.0 and means compared using Student t-test and analysis of variance. The internal consistency of MDAS was established using Cronbach’s alpha.
Results: Of the 160 participants, 50.6% (81) were male and 49.4% (79) were female. The prevalence of dental anxiety (MDA score ≥ 19) was 21.2% (34). This was higher in females (11.2%) than in males (10%). Respondents were most anxious about having their tooth drilled. The Cronbach’s alpha for each of the MDAS item ranged from 0.695 to 0.872 with an overall average of 0.79. The average inter-item correlation was 0.63, which was satisfactory. The total mean MDA score was significantly (P= 0.024) higher in females 14.95 (±4.54) than in males 13.27 (±5.00). Regarding age, there was statistically significant decrease in mean MDA score with age (P = 0.033).
Conclusion: MDAS showed good psychometric properties with satisfactory face and content validity, excellent completion of scale items as well as good internal consistency in adult population in Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
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