It is possible to conclude that the students interviewed know ergonomic principles and their importance in occupational health. However, they found it difficult to put these principles into practice.
The risk of developing musculoskeletal disorders was high in undergraduate dentistry students; this risk was not related to gender, type of dental procedure and region of the mouth being treated.
Aim: To estimate the reliability and validity of the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and identify the prevalence and the effect of the socio-demographic characteristics of dental anxiety, in a sample of 212 adults. Methods: The psychometric sensitivity of the scale was assessed. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed, and the convergent validity and internal consistency were determined. The prevalence of anxiety was estimated, and the effect of socio-demographic variables on anxiety was assessed using structural equation modelling. Results: The participants' mean age was 33.5 (SD = 15.6) years, and 62.3% were female. There was an adequate factorial adjustment of the scale in this sample. The convergent validity and internal consistency were adequate in the one-factor model. Regarding two-factor model, there was a high correlation (r) among the factors, which jeopardized the discriminant validity. A total of 47.6% of the participants (IC 95% = 40.9 -54.4) presented low levels of anxiety, 32.5% (IC 95% = 26.2 -38.9) moderate levels, and 12.3% (IC 95% = 7.8 -16.7) exacerbated levels. There was a non-significant effect of gender, age and education on the anxiety levels of this sample. Conclusion: We concluded that the one-factor model presented better psychometric qualities, that anxiety was highly prevalent and there was no significant effect of the demographic variables on anxiety, in this sample.
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