Description

The Social Scale for Differentiating Dental Phobic and Non-Phobic Patients (SOF-5), also referred to in the source as the Dental Fear Scale, is a brief assessment instrument designed to distinguish between patients who experience dental fear and those who do not through questions concerning social and interpersonal aspects of the dental-care experience.

The scale was developed by Aravou and is reported as having been created in 2009, based on findings obtained from the EROS questionnaire. The EROS instrument examines the interaction between dentist and patient and differences between individuals who experience dental fear and those who do not.

The SOF-5 consists of five items focusing on characteristics of the patient’s interaction with dental professionals and perceptions of the dental environment. More specifically, the items concern communication between patients and physicians, cleanliness of the clinical environment, and the physician’s understanding of the patient’s experience of pain.

The scale therefore approaches dental fear not exclusively as an internal emotional reaction but also in relation to the social and interpersonal characteristics of dental care. This makes it potentially useful in dental research, health psychology, patient-centered care, and studies examining dentist–patient communication.

Data Analysis and Use

Data obtained from the SOF-5 can be analyzed quantitatively through the calculation of individual item scores and an overall scale score. Because the instrument is intended to distinguish between dental-phobic and non-phobic patients, comparisons between groups represent an important component of its application.

Descriptive statistics such as means, standard deviations, ranges, and score distributions can be calculated to characterize dental fear within a study sample. Comparative statistical procedures may subsequently be used to determine whether SOF-5 scores differ significantly between groups of patients.

The instrument can also be incorporated into studies examining relationships between dental fear and variables such as dentist–patient communication, perceptions of pain, characteristics of the dental environment, and patient experiences during dental visits. These applications are consistent with the content of the five items described in the source.

In clinical or dental-care research, the results may contribute to identifying aspects of the patient experience that are associated with increased dental fear and may therefore inform strategies intended to improve communication and patient-centered dental care.

Objective

The primary objective of the SOF-5 is to distinguish between dental-phobic and non-phobic patients through socially oriented questions concerning their experience of dental care.

The development of the instrument reflects the broader difficulty of identifying dental fear, as patients may provide substantially different responses when asked about their emotional experiences during dental visits. The scale therefore seeks to provide an additional structured method for differentiating patients according to their level of dental fear.

Its focus on communication, clinical environment, and perceived understanding of pain may also contribute to a broader assessment of the interpersonal factors associated with fear during dental treatment.

Scoring

The SOF-5 consists of five items, each evaluated using a seven-point response scale ranging from 1 = Strongly Disagree to 7 = Strongly Agree. Participants’ responses indicate the extent to which they agree or disagree with each statement.

Each item therefore receives a score between 1 and 7 points. The five item scores are combined to generate an overall score ranging from a minimum of 5 points to a maximum of 35 points.

According to the source, higher total scores indicate a greater experience of fear associated with visiting the dental office.

The document does not provide specific validated cut-off values for classifying patients into low, moderate, or high dental-fear categories. Such classifications should therefore not be created arbitrarily without additional empirical evidence.

Validity

The source reports evidence supporting the validity of the SOF-5. The mean factor value reported for dental-phobic patients is 0.37, compared with 0.22 among non-phobic patients, with the difference reported as statistically significant at p < .002.

These findings indicate that the scale demonstrates an ability to differentiate between the two groups within the population examined and provide evidence relevant to its discriminative validity.

However, the available document does not provide additional information concerning factor loadings, sensitivity, specificity, predictive values, or other indicators of diagnostic performance.

Reliability

The SOF-5 demonstrates satisfactory internal consistency according to the information provided in the source.

The reported Cronbach’s alpha coefficient is α = .75, indicating an acceptable degree of internal consistency among the five items within the population in which the instrument was evaluated.

Given the brief five-item structure of the instrument, reliability should also be examined when the scale is applied to substantially different clinical, demographic, linguistic, or cultural populations.

Reference

Aravou, S. (2008). Influence Processes in Dental Phobic and Non-Phobic Patients.