Factors associated with dental anxiety among older people in Britain

OBJECTIVE: This paper reports on a study of dental anxiety among adults aged 60 years living independently in Britain. DESIGN: A national cross-sectional study carried out with the assistance of the Office for National Statistics' Omnibus Surveys in 1999. SETTING: Data was collected by face to face interviews with older people in their homes. MEASUREMENTS: Data on dental anxiety were collected from 973 subjects by means of face to face interviews and was measured by the Dental Anxiety Scale (DAS) (Corah, 1969). In addition, data on dental service use and oral health status (self-reported) was collected. RESULTS: The mean DAS score was 8.4 (sd 3.5), and 13% (129) of subjects were classified as dentally anxious (DAS > or = 13). DAS scores were associated with numerous socio-demographic factors (P < 0.01), self-reported oral health status (P < 0.01) and dental service (P < 0.01) factors. A series of regression analyses revealed that dental anxiety was a significant predictor of a number of behavioural and oral health outcomes. CONCLUSION: One in eight older people in Britain are dentally anxious and this is associated with their use of services and oral health status (self-reported).