Greek Versions of Adult Dental Fear Questionnaires

Methods: One hundred forty eight (mean age 40.26, SD = 12.51; 51% male) dental patients seen in three private practices in Thessaloniki, Greece, completed Greek versions of the Dental Fear Survey (DFS) and Modified Corah Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) before receiving dental treatment. Dentists (who were unaware of the questionnaire results) rated the patients' anxiety and cooperation during dental treatment. A second sample of 82 (mean age 34.33, SD = 13.10, 48% male) dental patients seen in a university dental clinic completed the questionnaires twice, within a two-month period.

Results: Mean scores of the private practice patients were 39.32 (SD = 17.07) and 10.91 (SD = 4.79) for the DFS and MDAS, respectively. The two measures were highly correlated (Spearman's r = 0.885, p < 0.001). Women scored significantly higher on both the DFS (t = 2.30, df = 134.82, p = 0.023) and the MDAS (t = 3.07, df = 135.72, p = 0.003). The internal reliabilities (alpha) were 0.96 for the DFS and 0.90 for the MDAS. For both measures, both males and females with higher fear scores were rated as more anxious and less cooperative during treatment (all p's < 0.001). Mean scores of the patients seen in the university clinic were 39.76 (SD = 17.49) and 10.48 (SD = 5.11) for the DFS and MDAS, respectively. Test-retest reliabilities were 0.951 for the DFS and 0.937 for the MDAS.

Conclusion: The Greek versions of the DFS and MDAS appear to have good psychometric properties, and to behave similarly as they have in other translations. Supported by NIDCR Grant T32DE07132.