Child dental fear as measured with the Dental Subscale of the Children's Fear Survey Schedule: the impact of referral status and type of informant (child versus parent)

Abstract

Objectives: The first aim of this methodological study was to investigate the agreement between self-ratings of Children's Fear Survey Schedule (CFSS-DS). The second aim was to explore using differentiated cut-off scores, and to compare these cut-off scores with those commonly used.

Methods: Three different data collections included study groups (n = 497) of children and adolescents who had been referred to specialized pediatric dentistry clinics, and reference groups (n = 499) of dental patients and children rating the analyses were limited to the Östergötland sample (n = 210 + 228). Patients and their accompanying parents (mainly mothers) were asked to fill in the CFSS-DS independently. Cut-off scores on the CFSS-DS scale were determined using receiver-operating characteristic analysis; patient-parent agreement was illustrated with Bland-Altman plots.

Results: The patient-parent agreement was modest, particularly among those who were referred because of dental behaviour management problems (DBMP). Cut-off scores differentiated by age and gender, suggested by exploration according to two different methods, were with few exceptions clearly below the standard cut-off score.

Conclusion: [corrected] The validity of parental ratings of their children dental fear should be questioned, particularly in high-fear populations. Self-ratings should, as far as possible, be used to complement parental ratings. One consequence of using the standard cut-off score is the risk of overlooking some patients needs for special attention. Further research is needed to establish and validate age-and gender-differentiated cut-off scores on the CFSS-DS.

Keywords: anxiety; behavioral science; pediatric dentistry.