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. 2019 Aug;19(4):227-233.
doi: 10.17245/jdapm.2019.19.4.227. Epub 2019 Aug 30.

Use of an animated emoji scale as a novel tool for anxiety assessment in children

Jyothsna V Setty  1 , Ila Srinivasan  1 , Sreeraksha Radhakrishna  1 , Anjana M Melwani  1 , Murali Krishna Dr  1
Affiliations

Use of an animated emoji scale as a novel tool for anxiety assessment in children

Jyothsna V Setty et al. J Dent Anesth Pain Med. 2019 Aug.

Abstract

Background: Dental anxiety in children is a major barrier in patient management. If dental anxiety in pediatric patients is assessed during the first visit, it will not only aid in management but also help to identify patients who are in need of special care to deal with their fear. Nowadays, children and adults are highly interested in multimedia and are closely associated with them. Children usually prefer motion pictures on electronic devices than still cartoons on paper. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate a newly designed scale, the animated emoji scale (AES), which uses motion emoticons/animojis to assess dental anxiety in children during their first dental visit, and compare it with the Venham picture test (VPT) and facial image scale (FIS).

Methods: The study included 102 healthy children aged 4-14 years, whose dental anxiety was measured using AES, VPT, and FIS during their first dental visit, and their scale preference was recorded.

Results: The mean anxiety scores measured using AES, FIS, and VPT, represented as mean ± SD, were 1.78 ± 1.19, 1.93 ± 1.23, and 1.51 ± 1.84, respectively. There was significant difference in the mean anxiety scores between the three scales (Friedman test, P < 0.001). The Pearson's correlation test showed a very strong correlation (0.73) between AES and VPT, and a strong correlation between AES and FIS (0.88), and FIS and VPT (0.69), indicating good validity of AES. Maximum number of children (74.5%) preferred AES.

Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that the AES is a novel and child-friendly tool for assessing dental anxiety in children.

Keywords: Anxiety Assessment; Anxiety Scales; Dental Anxiety; Pediatric Dentistry.

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Conflict of interest statement

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS: The authors declare no financial or competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Diagram showing the study design.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Anxiety rating scales used in the study: A) Animated Emoji Scale, B) Facial Image Scale, C) Venham Picture Test
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Scatterplot depicting the relationship between the three scales
AES: animated emoji scale, VPT: Venham picture test, FIS: facial image scale
Fig. 4
Fig. 4. Preferences for different anxiety rating scales
AES: animated emoji scale, VPT: Venham picture test, FIS: facial image scale
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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