Assessment of Relationship between Dental Anxiety with Personality Traits among Medical and Dental Students in an Institute, Bangalore- A Cross Sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: To assess the relationship between Dental Anxiety and Personality Traits among Medical and Dental students. Settings and Design: A cross sectional analytical study was conducted in medical and dental institution in Bangalore. Methods and Material: The study was conducted among 498undergraduate medical and dental students using a 21 item, self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of three parts a) Information on demographic details, b)Modified dental anxiety questionnaire consisiting of 5 questions and c)Revised Eyesenck personality scale consisiting of 16 questions for personality assessment. Statistical analysis: Statistical analysis was done using Pearson’s correlation to assess the correlation between Dental Anxiety and Personality Traits Results: In the present study, Severe levels of anxiety was found among 23.2% of medical students as compared to 2.75% for dental students. On investigating Personality Traits of the Study Subjects, 37.07% were under extraversion category, 23.74%were under neurotocism, 3.42%were under lie scale and 34.79% were under mixed personality traits. There was a positive correlation found between Dental Anxiety and Personality Traits. Conclusion: Dental anxiety is a major determinant of one’s general predisposition towards dental-health interactions and is dependent on the Personality traits of an individual.