KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF BACTERIOPHOBIA AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS IN CHENNAI - A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY
Abstract
Introduction: Phobia is a type of anxiety disorder defined by a persistent and excessive fear of an object or situation. Phobias typically result in a rapid onset of fear and are present for more than six months. Bacteriophobia, like the name suggests, is the fear of bacteria and is experienced by people more than expected.
Aim: The aim of the study is to evaluate the awareness and prevalence of dental students who are bacteriophobic.
Materials and methods: Detailed questionnaire was created with questions about Bacteriophobia, and was circulated to 100 dental preclinical undergraduate students through google forms. The collected data were analyzed using the chi-square test in SPSS software version 21.0. Descriptive analysis was done to analyze data.
Results: It was observed that 62.16% of the dental students do not have bacteriophobia, but around 83.78% of the students believe that if students do have bacteriophobia, the psychological intervention will help.
Conclusion: From this study, it is observed that most dental students do not have bacteriophobia and there is awareness about bacteriophobia.