The Reliability and Validity of the Japanese Version of the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale among Dental Outpatients

Table 2

Significance of the difference in MDAS scores between groups that differed in demographics and dental anxiety-related variables.

Variable	N	%	MDAS
			Mean	SD
Sex
Male	145	52.7	10.01	3.22	0.009
Female	130	47.3	11.88	4.06
Age (years)
20–39	99	36.0	12.80	3.40	<0.001
40–59	90	32.7	10.60	3.48
>60	86	31.3	9.01	3.37
Frequency of dental visits
Regular	54	19.6	8.72	3.04	<0.001
Occasional	122	44.4	11.28	3.56
Only when there is pain/trouble	99	36.0	11.61	3.93
Previous negative dental experience
No	191	69.5	10.20	3.68	<0.001
Yes	84	30.5	12.48	3.44

Mann–Whitney U tests; Kruskal–Wallis tests. MDAS = Modified Dental Anxiety Scale. SD = standard deviation.