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Published on: July 12, 2022
Reliability, validity and cutoff score of the Intra-Oral Injection Fear scale
Karin G Berge1,2, Margrethe Vika1,2, Maren Lillehaug Agdal1,2
1Department of Clinical Dentistry, Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
Background:
A proper assessment tool is needed to gain more knowledge about fear of intraoral injections in children.
Aim:
The aims of this study were to evaluate the reliability and validity of the novel Intra-Oral Injection Fear scale (IOIF-s) and to establish a cutoff score for a high level of such fear.
Methods:
Data were obtained from two samples of 10- to 16-year-olds in Hordaland, Norway. Sample I, 1460 pupils attending elementary and high schools, provided questionnaire-based data. The survey instruments used were IOIF-s, Children's Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSS-DS), Mutilation Questionnaire for Children (MQ-c) and Injection phobia Scale for Children (IS-c). Sample II was 67 patients, diagnosed with intraoral injection phobia at the Center for Odontophobia, Oral Health Center of Expertise in Western Norway-Hordaland, who provided IOIF-s data.
Results:
Cronbach's alpha was 0.95. The IOIF-s discriminated between subjects with and without intraoral injection phobia and was associated with the other survey instruments of similar construct. Principal component analysis revealed a two-component solution, characterized as 'Contact Fear' and 'Distal Fear'. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve indicated that a cutoff score of 38 was appropriate.
Conclusion:
The IOIF-s showed satisfying psychometric properties in terms of reliability and validity.
