Abstract
Introduction. Between 6 and 15% of the adult population throughout the world faces with the fear of dentists. Fear of dentists directly correlates with the pain experienced during previous visits to the dentist. Objective. The aim of the study was to assess the validity, reliability and factor structure of the Serbian version of the Dental Fear Survey on a sample of university and high school students. Method. Two hundred and fifty students and high school students participated in the study and completed the Serbian version of the Dental Fear Survey. Results. This study's sample showed excellent internal consistency (Cronbach's Alpha = 0.98). Descriptive statistics and multinomial logistic regression were calculated; a significance level of p < 0.05 was used for all tests. A high fear cut-off point score was determined by calculating the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve for the DFS. The ROC curve indicated that a DFS score ≥ 47 corresponds to a sensitivity of 86.1% and a specificity of 88.2%. A large number of participants (n = 102; 40.8%) reported no fear of going to the dentist. The factor analyses resulted in three factors: first represents fear of certain stimulus or situation, second represents anticipatory fear which causes dentist avoidance, and third stands for psychological excitement caused by dental procedures. Conclusion. DFS satisfies all the criteria of successful validation among Serbian population of university and highschool students. The Serbian version of the DFS will be helpful for the evaluation of fear of dental procedures within this population. DFS is an easily applicable, short and reliable instrument and it can enable physicians to assess fear and anxiety symptoms in a targeted and precise manner.
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