Assessment for the Children's Fear Survey Schedule—Dental Subscale

Abstract

Objectives: Child dental fear causes a significant management problem. The Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS) is the most widely used measure of dental fear in children. This study was undertaken to develop and test reliability and validity for the Arabic version of the CFSS-DS. Study design: the English CFSS-DS was translated to Arabic language and its reliability and validity were evaluated by distributing it to 6-12 year old Arabic pediatric dental patients (n=220). Of whom 144 children were assigned for test- retest reliability. To test criterion validity; 44 children were subjected to behavior rating during treatment and compared with their CFSS-DS. Fear of returning to the dentist was evaluated for all the children to test construct validity. Results: the Arabic version of the CFSS-DS showed good internal consistency (alpha = 0.86) and test-retest reliability (0.86, P<0.001). Treatment with or without local anesthesia did not affect the children's behavior or fear scores. Significant correlations were found between total fear scores and both Frankl rating scale (r=-0.54, p<0.001) and willingness to return to the dentist (r=0.50, p<0.001). Conclusion: the Arabic version of the CFSS-DS appears to be a reliable and valid method for evaluating child's dental fear in Arabic cultures.

The psychometric properties of the CFSS‐DS for schoolchildren in Saudi Arabia: A confirmatory factor analytic approach

“…There are limitations to the work presented and this is in relation to the Buridah sample (Sample 2) being all girls, the questionnaire being completed at home and that the samples were collected 2 years apart. Although much of the literature cites a difference in dental anxiety between genders, the same was not observed by El‐Housseiny et al, where they showed that the mean CFSS‐DS score for boys was 23.50 (±7.66) and for girls 23.51 (±7.83). Since no difference in mean score in CFSS‐DS existed for Saudi children, this suggested that the use of an all‐girl sample for the CFA study was acceptable.…”

“…The questionnaire consisted of two parts: the first included questions about the participants’ age and gender and the second part assessed child dental anxiety using the Arabic version of the CFSS‐DS . CFSS‐DS consists of 15 questions related to various aspects of dental treatment as, for example fear of the dentist, dental treatment such as the local anaesthesia, and so forth.…”

“…A good example of such a scale is the CFSS‐DS. The CFSS‐DS has been translated into many languages, including an Arabic version . Few of these language versions, however, have undergone rigorous psychometric testing.…”

“…The CFSS-DS has been translated into many languages, [12][13][14][15][16] including an Arabic version. 17,18 Few of these language versions, however, have undergone rigorous psychometric testing. Using exploratory factor analytic procedures, El-Housseiny et al 17 found their Arabic version to be a reliable and valid measure of child dental anxiety for Arabic-speaking children.…”

Do children’s previous dental experience and fear affect their perceived oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL)?

“…A higher score reveals higher dental fear [17]. The validated Arabic version of CFSS-DS was used in this study [18]. …”