Toward the validation of visual analogue scale for anxiety.

Abstract

Anxiety is a relevant problem in dental practice. The Visual Analogue Scale for Anxiety (VAS-A), introduced in dentistry in 1988, has not yet been validated in large series. The aim of this study is to check VAS-A effectiveness in more than 1000 patients submitted to implantology. The VAS-A and the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) were administered preoperatively to 1114 patients (459 males and 655 females, age 54.7 ± 13.1 years). Statistical analysis was conducted with Pearson correlation coefficient, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve, and McNemar tests. A close correlation between DAS and VAS-A was found (r  =  0.57, P < .0001); the VAS-A thresholds of dental anxiety and phobia were 5.1 and 7.0 cm, respectively. Despite a significant concordance of tests in 800 cases (72%), disagreement was found in the remaining 314 cases (28%), and low DAS was associated with high VAS-A (230 cases) or vice versa (84 cases). Our study confirms that VAS-A is a simple, sensitive, fast, and reliable tool in dental anxiety assessment. The rate of disagreement between VAS-A and DAS is probably due to different test sensitivities to different components of dental anxiety. VAS-A can be used effectively in the assessment of dental patients, using the values of 5.1 cm and 7.0 cm as cutoff values for anxiety and phobia, respectively.

• Authors: E Facco, G Zanette, L Favero, C Bacci, S Sivolella, F Cavallin, G Manani
• Journal: Anesthesia progress (Anesth Prog) Vol. 58 Issue 1 Pg. 8-13 ( 2011) ISSN: 0003-3006 [Print] United States
• PMID: 21410359 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Validation Study)

Topics

• Area Under Curve
• Dental Anxiety (classification)
• Female
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• ROC Curve
• Reproducibility of Results
• Sensitivity and Specificity
• Severity of Illness Index