Abstract
The aim of the present study was to assess the reliability and (factorial) validity of the Dutch version of the Social Attributes of Dental Anxiety Scale (SADAS). A factor analysis using the English version of the SADAS revealed two separate scales. The first eight items involved unwanted psychological upsets when patients encounter dental care directly; the four remaining items were about social inhibitions or restrictions due to the perceived state of oral health. Psychometric properties of the Dutch version were assessed using a sample of 170 highly anxious dental patients of a dental fear clinic in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) and the Short version of the Dental Anxiety Inventory (S-DAI) were used as measures of dental anxiety. Factor analysis revealed that four factors explained 72.8% of the variance, and two forcedly extracted factors explained 53.4% of the variance. Correlations indicated that the SADAS does measure a different concept than dental anxiety. In addition, t-tests indicated that the SADAS was able to discriminate between a group of non-anxious individuals and the present group of patients. In conclusion, the SADAS is a promising new questionnaire with moderate factorial, but with more than sufficient reliability, as well as construct and discriminant validity.
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