The Prevalence of Dental Anxiety and Validation of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale in a Sample of Nigerian Population

Dental anxiety has been reported to be of global public health concern. In Nigeria, not much work has been documented on dental anxiety. The objectives of this study were to estimate the prevalence of dental anxiety and determine the reliability and validity of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) in screening for dental anxiety among Nigerian adult dental patients. One hundred and ninety adult participants were invited to complete a sociodemographic questionnaire, Modified Dental Anxiety Scale and Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale in order to determine the prevalence, internal consistency and concurrent validity of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale. The mean score of the MDAS was 11.0 (SD = 6.1) and the scores ranged from 5-25. Of the total 190 participants, 60 (48.6%) scored above the cut-off score of 11. The internal consistency of the MDAS was 0.90 (95% CI = 0.94-0.97). The MDAS correlated well with HARS; the concurrent validity coefficient of 0.58 was obtained. (r = 0.90, p<0-0001). At normative cut-off score of 11.0, MDAS sensitivity was 0.8 and specificity 0.85. These psychometric findings showed that the MDAS has good internal consistency as well as good concurrent validity coefficient. Because of its reliability, validity, brevity and ease of administration, the MDAS is considered a useful instrument for measuring dental anxiety among Nigerians. Keywords: Prevalence, Reliability, Validity, Modified Dental Anxiety Scale Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 62 No 5-6, 2012