Validation of Arabic version of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) and Kleinknecht's Dental Fear Survey Scale (DFS) and combined self-modified version of this two scales as Dental Fear Anxiety Scale (DFAS) among 12 to 15 year Saudi school students in Riyadh city

AIMS: The aim of this study was to test the reliability and validity of the Arabic version of Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS), Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS), and a combined self-modified version of these scales and Dental Fear and Anxiety Scale (DFAS). We also aimed to assess the impact of dental fear and anxiety among Arabic-speaking 12-15-year-old Saudi students on their quality of life by correlating MDAS, DAS, and DFAS scores with other demographic data. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 500 individuals (250 male and 250 female) in Riyadh city using a questionnaire. An unpaired t-test was used to check the mean difference between anxiety score among males and females, and one-way analysis of variance was used to check the mean difference between percentage anxiety score among different visit groups. Scheffe post hoc test was used to check the pairwise difference between the groups, and Cronbach’s alpha was used to measure internal consistency of the questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall mean percentage DAS score was 51.1640 + 6.87358 and 55.2080 + 8.52805 for male and females, respectively. The overall mean percentage MDAS score was 51.6640 + 10.9478 and 58.3200 + 11.62990 for males and females, respectively. The overall mean total score was found to be 64.4080 + 11.80776 and 100.4680 + 12.34840 for males and females, respectively. All the above results were statistically significant by 5% (P < 0.001). Cronbach’s alpha score for MDAS and DAS was found to be 0.843 and it was 0.960 for DFAS. It was found that removal of any item would have decreased the overall consistency, which indicated a high level of internal consistency for our scales. CONCLUSION: Saudi Arabian version of Arabic version of MDAS, DAS and DFAS have shown high validity and reliability, and can be used to assess the dental patient’s anxiety and fear.