Psychometric properties of the faces version of the Malay-modified child dental anxiety scale

摘要

Background To evaluate the psychometric properties of the faces version of the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDAS_f) Malay version in 5–6 and 9–12 year-old children. Methods The MCDAS_f was cross culturally adapted from English into Malay. The Malay version was tested for reliability and validity in 3 studies. In the Study 1, to determine test-retest reliability of MCDAS_f scale, 166 preschool children aged 5–6 years were asked to rank orders five cartoons faces depicting emotions from ‘very happy’ to ‘very sad’ faces on two separate occasions 3?weeks apart. A total of 87 other 5–6 year-old children completed the Malay-MCDAS_f on two separate occasions 3?weeks apart to determine test-retest reliability for Study 2. In study 3, 239 schoolchildren aged 9–12 years completed the Malay-MCDAS_f and the Malay-Dental Subscale of the Children Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS) at the same sitting to determine the criterion and construct validity. Results In study 1, Kendall W test showed a high degree of concordance in ranking the cartoon faces picture cards on each of the 2 occasions (time 1, W?=?0.955 and time 2, W?=?0.954). The Malay-MCDAS_f demonstrated moderate test-retest reliability (Intraclass correlation coefficient?=?0.63, p f scores were observed for the items ‘injection in the gum’ and ‘tooth taken out’ for both age groups. The MCDAS_f significantly correlated with the CFSS-DS (Pearson r?=?0.67, p? Conclusions These psychometric findings support for the inclusion of a cartoon faces rating scale to assess child dental anxiety and the Malay-MCDAS_f is a reliable and valid measure of dental anxiety in 5–12 year-old children.