Validated psychometric scales to measure dental fear/anxiety among children and adolescents in Italy. A systematic review

9 Aim One in seven children or adolescents suffer from a high level of dental fear/anxiety (DFA) hindering or delaying their dental service attendance. To overcome this negative psychological condition an early diagnosis should be performed through validated psychometric scales adequate for children, such as the Children’s Fear Survey Schedule-Dental Subscale (CFSSDS) and the Modified Child Dental Anxiety Scale (MCDAS). The aim of this paper is to review the literature in order to verify the existence of validation studies regarding the above mentioned two questionnaires. Methods A detailed systematic research of studies published at the end of February 2016 into the most relevant electronic data bases (Medline, Embase and Web of Science) with well calibrated Mesh words was performed. Only studies reporting data about the reliability and validity concerning CFSS-DS and/or MCDAS carried out among Italian children and adolescents were selected for data extraction. Results The literature review yielded 905 records, for 43 of which the full text was retrieved. In addition, a further 5 full texts were also derived by the searching of available papers. After the examination of all full texts no studies reporting validation procedures carried out among Italian children or adolescents were found. Conclusion The absence of validated studies in Italy regarding two of the most relevant psychometric scales (CFSS-DS and MCDAS) raises concerns about the attention shown by Italian dental practitioners to the matter of children’s/adolescents’ dental anxiety. Further methodologically well conduced studies in this field should be performed on Italian population.