Anxiety and fear affiliated with dental consultation and procedures among university students of Karachi

Joint Event on 14^th International Congress on Healthcare & Hospital Management & 22^nd International Conference & Expo on Nutrition, Fitness and Health Management

September 19-20, 2018 | Vancouver, Canada

Sana Khan

Fatima Jinnah Dental College, Pakistan

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Health Educ Res Dev

Abstract :

Statement of problem: Dental anxiety and fear is a major area of health concern in numerous countries. It is considered as a barrier to seeking the dental treatment. Research studies have shown that patient with dental anxiety and fear visit the dentist only when it became a complete need to avail dental treatment. It varies according to age, gender, socioeconomic status and level and field of education. Women, young people, and non-medical students tend to be more anxious for the dental treatment. Therefore, the aim of the study is to assess the dental anxiety and fear level among university students and to find its association among medical and non-medical students and with gender. Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional study was conducted to assess the dental anxiety and fear level among 400 medical and non-medical university students of Karachi. Multistage sampling technique was used. Prevalidated questionnaires were used to measure the dental anxiety and fear level. Undergraduate medical and non-medical students with age of 17 to 25 years were served as inclusion criteria. Exclusion criteria include students without the history of a dental visit. Results: The mean age of the participants was 20± 2 years. Non-medical students showed slightly more anxiety (15.57± 4.71) and fear (46.01± 10.82) than medical students (15.02± 4.63) (45.16± 10.73). Dental anxiety (15.62± 4.9) and fear (46.38± 10.48) was slightly higher in males than females (14.97± 4.42) (44.79± 11.02). There was no such significant difference found between dental anxiety and fear with the medical and non-medical students and gender as the p-value was greater than 0.05. Conclusion: There was no such significant difference found between dental anxiety and fear in relation to medical and non-medical students and with the gender. Recommendations: As few studies are conducted nationally regarding dental anxiety and fear level among university students, future studies should be conducted in other regions of Pakistan to establish a nationwide representation of prevailing dental anxiety and fear level.

Biography :

E-mail: bardai.sana@gmail.com