Psychological Distress, Dental Health, and Dental Fear among Finnish University Students: A National Survey

Abstract

The aim of this study was to study the association between dental fear, psychological distress, and perceived symptoms of teeth controlled for age, gender, educational sector, and tobacco use. The data from the Finnish University Student Health Survey 2016 targeting students (n = 10,000) of academic universities and universities of applied sciences were used. Psychological distress was measured with the Clinical Outcomes in Routine Evaluation 10 (CORE-10) and the General Health Questionnaire 12 (GHQ-12) and dental fear with the question ‘Do you feel scared about receiving dental care?’. The study included 3110 students. In logistic regression analyses those with psychological distress (measured with CORE-10 and GHQ-12) and those reporting teeth-related symptoms were more likely than their counterparts to have high dental fear. In gender-specific analyses men with psychological distress (measured with CORE-10) and women with teeth-related symptoms were more likely to have high levels of dental fear. Finnish university students with psychological distress and teeth-related symptoms were more likely to experience higher levels of dental fear than their counterparts were. The results of this study support possible common vulnerability factors that dental fear and other psychological disorders may share.

Gender differences in barriers to physical exercise among university students studying physical activity and sports sciences

“…Female PASS students reported significantly higher GHQ-12 total scores, a result that is in agreement with several reports that female university students have significantly worse mental health than male students, regardless of the field of study or country (Eskin et al, 2016;Pohjola et al, 2021;Rodríguez-Romo et al, 2022;Zhang et al, 2022). However, in this study, high GHQ-12 scores were found in both women and men, suggesting the presence of high levels of psychological disorders or poor mental health.…”

Dental environment and practitioner preferences of southeast Asian youths with dental fear/anxiety

“…However, unlike other studies indicating the vulnerability of women to DFA, 23,29 no significant difference in IDAF‐4C scores were discerned between genders. Besides social, cultural and hormonal factors, the gender disparity in DFA has also been explained by higher levels of psychological distress and somatization among women 29,30 . The insignificant difference in DFA scores observed in our study could be attributed to the relatively small percentage of male responders (12.6%), which was consistent with the work of Smith specifying that women are more likely to participate in online surveys than men 31 .…”

The Relationship between Dental Fear and Anxiety, General Anxiety/Fear, Sensory Over-Responsivity, and Oral Health Behaviors and Outcomes: A Conceptual Model

“…Thirty articles examined the association between DFA and general anxiety/fear ( n = 11 pediatric, n = 19 adult). The majority of both pediatric [ 43 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 ] and adult studies [ 29 , 39 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 ] reported a relationship between DFA and general anxiety/fear. Only one pediatric study [ 69 ] and two adult studies [ 13 , 70 ] found no significant association between general anxiety/fear and DFA.…”