The proposed research would provide practical development of a new ratio scale of anxiety response. The work would focus on the following issues: (1) the context in which patient anxiety response is given -- i.e. real time response vs. retrospective response; (2) the relationship with other previously used indices of trait anxiety, state anxiety, pain and trauma; (3) the acquisition of normative data for different socioeconomic subpopulations as well as potential differences related to age, gender and different dental procedures; (4) the statistical properties of response distributions. The results of this effort for expected to produce appropriate normative data which will improve assessment of patient self-reported anxiety in future pharmacological and behavioral intervention studies. Normative data will be collected from more than 500 patients in each of two treatment facilities: a group private practice and a hospital outpatient dental clinic. In addition, assessment of real time vs. retrospective accounts of anxiety will be made in these settings.
| Mendola, P; O'Shea, R M; Zielezny, M A et al. (1987) Validity and reliability of the interval scale of anxiety response. Anesth Prog 34:202-6 |
