Reliability and validity of the short version of the Dental Anxiety Inventory

Abstract

The present study focused on a newly developed questionnaire to assess dental anxiety. The short version of the Dental Anxiety Inventory (S-DAI) contains nine items of the Dental Anxiety Inventory (DAI), which was designed to take into account three situations that may evoke dental anxiety, four time elements in which dental anxiety may be provoked, and three reactions. The aim was to assess the validity and reliability of the S-DAI in a sample of highly anxious dental patients applying for treatment at a dental fear clinic in the Netherlands. Three hundred and twenty-one patients filled out several questionnaires assessing dental anxiety (S-DAI, DAS, and a 10-point Likert-scale) and psychological complaints. Total mean score on the S-DAI for women (mean=40.5, s=5.7) was somewhat higher than for men (mean=38.8, s=6.9) (t(306)=2.35; P=0.019). Cronbach's alpha for the present sample was 0.88. Correlations with other measures of dental anxiety were 0.73 with the DAS (P<0.001) and 0.69 (P<0.001) with the 10-point scale. The results indicated that the S-DAI has good reliability and construct validity. It was concluded that the S-DAI is easy to administer in general dental practices and dental fear clinics and has satisfactory psychometric qualities.

Psychological Impact of Third Molar Surgery: A 1-Month Prospective Study

“…Severity of dental anxiety was measured using the S-DAI, the short version of the Dental Anxiety Inventory 7 , which has shown to be a reliable and valid index of dental trait anxiety 8 . An example of one of the 9 items is 'I become nervous when the dentist invites me to sit down into the chair'.…”

Highly anxious dental patients report more pain during dental injections

“…First, a number of anxiety questionnaires are filled out and patients require certain minimal scores. The questionnaires and their minimum scores are: a dental anx iety scale (ie a VAS) cut-off = 8; the DAS (dental anxiety scale) 20 cut-off = 15; the S-DAI (short version of the Dental Anx iety Inventory) 21 cut-off = 28; and the DPFR (duration of psycho-physiological reactions) 22 cut-off = 7. Secondly, during a screening interview it should become clear that the patient has shown severe avoidance behaviour in the past, and has been/still is difficult to treat.…”

“…21 It contains nine items that are answered on a five-point Likert-type scale. An example is 'I become nervous when the dentist invites me to sit down into the chair'.…”

Factores asociados a sintomatología clínica de miedo y ansiedad en pacientes atendidos en Odontología

“…Cada ítem es calificado en una escala likert de 5 puntos que evalúa frecuencia de presentación de cada situación. Fue desarrollado con base en el análisis del Inventario de Ansiedad Dental; este inventario ha mostrado buenos niveles de confiabilidad y validez y altas correlaciones con inventarios de ansiedad dental como el DAS 16 . Dada la carencia de instrumentos validados para la población colombiana, en el estudio de Caycedo et al 1 se validó la escala SDAI arrojando puntaje de confiabilidad alfa de Cronbach de 0,957.…”