Anxiety Among Children 5-10 Years of Age Visiting Dental Teaching Hospitals in Peshawar City

Authors

  • Asif Rehman
  • Ariffullah Khan
  • Ihtesham ud Din
  • Saffiullah .
  • Arooj Irfan
  • Junaid Zarif

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.52206/jsmc.2019.9.2.%25p

Keywords:

Children, Dental Anxiety, Dental fear, Dental treatment, Oral hygiene

Abstract

Background: Dental fear in young children is recognized as a public health problem in many countries. Anxiety among dental
patients directly affects their oral hygiene.
Objective: To evaluate the level of anxiety among children 5 -10 years of age visiting major dental teaching hospitals in Peshawar
city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Material and Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on 300 children attending three major dental teaching
hospitals in Peshawar city Pakistan. MCDASf scale was used to assess the level of Anxiety in children.
Results: Out of 300 children, only 10 (3.3%) children were non-anxious, 86 (28.7%) were mildly anxious, 99 (33%) were
moderately anxious while majority of the patients 105 (35%) were severely anxious. A statistically significant difference was
observed between the level of anxiety and different age group (p < 0.01), as the age increases the mean dental anxiety score
decreases from 20.49 in the age group 5-7 years to 15.85 in age group 8-10 years.
Conclusion: Our study confirms age difference in dental anxiety and found to be lower in older age group. Strategies like
recognizing the symptoms before starting any treatment and managing it with counseling and other therapies would have impact in
reducing anxiety in younger age group.

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Published

21-01-2020

How to Cite

1.
Rehman A, Khan A, Din I ud, . S, Irfan A, Zarif J. Anxiety Among Children 5-10 Years of Age Visiting Dental Teaching Hospitals in Peshawar City. J Saidu Med Coll [Internet]. 2020 Jan. 21 [cited 2026 Nov. 10];9(2). Available from: http://jsmc.pk/index.php/jsmc/article/view/236

Issue

Vol. 9 No. 2 (2019): Journal of Saidu Medical College

Section

Original Article

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