KNOWLEDGE, AWARENESS AND PREVALENCE OF KOINONIPHOBIA AMONG THE UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS IN CHENNAI CITY- A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

Abstract

Introduction: The fear or phobia is an emotional state caused by threatening that will cause the defense system to work on. Koinoniphobia is the fear of rooms full of people. It is a type of claustrophobia, it is found to be a psychological, genetic,environmental issue. There is no definitive cause or treatment.The aim of the study is to assess the level of  awareness on Koinoniphobia among the dental students in Saveetha Dental College.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted employing a self administered questionnaire to the undergraduate students of the author’s university. Prior ethical approval to conduct the study was obtained from the institutional review board of the author’s university. Non-probability convenience sampling was employed.this study was conducted by assessing responses to 10 selected questions pertaining to koinoniphobia  among dental students through google forms with a sample size of 100-150 dental students. Descriptive statistics was performed to present the frequency distribution of the options of the question items.

Results: From the results, Majority 67.14% of the participants didn't  know about this phobia. 32.86% of the participants knew about this phobia(Figure 1).About 45.71% of the participants get tense when they are amongst a crowd, 54.29% of the participants do not get tense when they are amongst a crowd ( Figure 2).  62.86% of the participants prefer using a lift, 37.14% of the participants do not prefer lift.(Figure 3).  Majority 28.57% of males and 24.29% of females infer that psychology is the cause for the phobia, 14.29% of males and 8.57% of females infer that Physical trigger is the cause and 15.71% of males and 8.57% of females infer that Genetics is the cause of the phobia. The Pearson Chi- square test was done (p value is 0.00) hence statistically significant.(Figure 10).

Conclusion: Majority of participants are not aware of the Koinoniphobia, but without their knowledge many of the study participants revealed that they have fear in using lifts and when they are in crowded areas. But this kind of phobia can help them in this covid time to follow social distancing.