Prevalence of dental anxiety in patients attending the dental service of two hospitals managed by the Ministry of Health of Peru

Rosita Espejo-Carrera; Angel Asmat-Abanto; Marcos J. Carruitero; Oscar Del Castillo-Huertas

doi:10.17126/joralres.2021.018

Rosita Espejo-Carrera Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Perú. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0247-6729
Angel Asmat-Abanto Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Perú. Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Perú. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5726-6692
Marcos J. Carruitero Universidad Nacional de Trujillo, Perú. Facultad de Medicina Humana, Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Perú. Universidad de Sao Paulo, Brasil. Universidad Católica Santo Toribio de Mogrovejo, Perú. http://orcid.org/0000-0001-8339-5076
Oscar Del Castillo-Huertas Universidad Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. Perú. Universidad Nacional Federico Villarreal, Perú. Escuela Profesional de Estomatología, Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego, Perú. Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Perú. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-0913-6361

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17126/joralres.2021.018

Abstract

Objective: To determine the level of dental anxiety in dental patients from two hospitals managed by the Ministry of Health of Peru, between August-September 2015. Material and Methods: Cross-sectional, comparative, and observational study, carried out between August and September 2015, including a total of 660 adult patients from the Dental Service of the Hospitals Regional Docente de Trujillo and Belén de Trujillo, Peru. A questionnaire based on the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) (Cronbach's Alpha=0.77) was applied to the participating subjects. Student's t test for independent groups and the Mann-Whitney U test were used for the analysis of the results, considering a significance level of 5%. Results: The mean total anxiety score for the population was 12.05 (SD=3.76). Females (mean=12.56) presented greater anxiety than males (mean=11.53) (p<0.001), young adults (Me=12.60) presented greater anxiety than subjects in mid-adulthood (Me=11.10) (p<0.001). No difference was found in terms of hospitals (p=0.386); 96.06% of the patients evaluated presented dental anxiety, 4.09% had extreme anxiety. Conclusion: The mean dental anxiety of the studied population coincides with the level of moderate anxiety. Females and young adults presented greater anxiety. No difference was found with respect to hospitals. Likewise, 96.06% of the evaluated patients presented dental anxiety, 4.09% had extreme anxiety.

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