Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Feb 14:20:19.
doi: 10.4103/1735-3327.369621. eCollection 2023.

Knowledge and practice of Iranian prosthodontists regarding the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea: Design and development of a questionnaire

Somayeh Niakan  1 , Ahmadreza Shamshiri  2 , Mojgan Davoodi  3 , Somayeh Allahyari  1
Affiliations

Knowledge and practice of Iranian prosthodontists regarding the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea: Design and development of a questionnaire

Somayeh Niakan et al. Dent Res J (Isfahan). .

Abstract

Background: The present study was conducted to develop a standard questionnaire to assess the knowledge and practice of prosthodontists regarding the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSA).

Materials and methods: This study had questionnaire designing and cross-sectional-descriptive phases. Questionnaire domains were identified by a panel of eight experts. The face and content validity of the questionnaire was assessed by experts and four laypeople. The internal consistency reliability of the questionnaire was checked using Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Moreover, its stability was tested using the test-retest method. The questionnaire was completed online by 282 Iranian prosthodontists and the relationship between different variables and scores of knowledge and practice of them with simple and multiple linear regression tests was were analyzed.

Results: A 32-item questionnaire was designed. The Scale Content Validity Index was >0.8 for clarity, simplicity, and necessity in all domains and the content validity of all questions was above 0.8. As for reliability, Cronbach's alpha coefficient was above 0.7 on average. Faculty members had more knowledge (P = 0.04) and better practice (P = 0.001) compared to others. Prosthodontists who participated in sleep disorders training courses had higher scores in knowledge (P = 0.001) and practice (P = 0.001). Prosthodontists who referred patients to sleep disorders clinics had higher knowledge (P = 0.001) and practice (P = 0.001) than those who did not.

Conclusion: The questionnaire developed in this study can be considered a comprehensive and executable scale with appropriate reliability and validity. There is a positive relationship between being exposed to information and the level of knowledge and practice of prosthodontists about OSA.

Keywords: Knowledge; obstructive sleep apnea; practice; prosthodontists; questionnaire; validation study.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors of this manuscript declare that they have no conflicts of interest, real or perceived, financial or nonfinancial in this article.

Figures

Flow Chart 1
Flow Chart 1
The steps involved in the questionnaire design.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Spira AP, Stone K, Beaudreau SA, Ancoli-Israel S, Yaffe K. Anxiety symptoms and objectively measured sleep quality in older women. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2009;17:136–43. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Vgontzas AN. Excessive daytime sleepiness in sleep apnea: It is not just apnea hypopnea index. Sleep Med. 2008;9:712–4. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Young T, Palta M, Dempsey J, Skatrud J, Weber S, Badr S. The occurrence of sleep-disordered breathing among middle-aged adults. N Engl J Med. 1993;328:1230–5. - PubMed
    1. Epstein LJ, Kristo D, Strollo PJ, Jr, Friedman N, Malhotra A, Patil SP, et al. Clinical guideline for the evaluation, management and long-term care of obstructive sleep apnea in adults. J Clin Sleep Med. 2009;5:263–76. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Pahkala R, Puustinen R, Tuomilehto H, Ahlberg J, Seppä J. Risk factors for sleep-disordered breathing: The role of craniofacial structure. Acta Odontol Scand. 2011;69:137–43. - PubMed