AIM: Dental anxiety and well-being significantly influence patients' oral health and quality of life. This study investigated whether providing paper information leaflets (PILs) before performing dental procedures improved psychological well-being and reduced anxiety in Czech patients. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This parallel-group, single-blind randomized, prospective clinical trial was conducted at a private dental clinic in the Czech Republic in 2020. A total of 167 adult patients were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 82), receiving both verbal information and a PIL, or the control group (n = 85), receiving only verbal information before their dental procedure (fillings, endodontic treatment, prosthetic restorations, or extractions). Pre- and post-procedure psychological well-being and anxiety were assessed using study-specific questionnaires. Data analysis was conducted in R using RStudio, with a significance level set at P < 0.05. Between-group differences were assessed while controlling for gender and education. Linear regression was used to analyze pre-procedure anxiety, and logistic regression was used to analyze post-procedure well-being outcomes (reporting "everything was fine," "unpleasant mouth sensations," and "quick adjustment"). The Benjamini-Hochberg correction was applied to control for multiple comparisons. Sensitivity analysis used the "best-worst and worst-best case" method to evaluate nonrandom missing data. Power analysis determined a minimum of 64 participants per group for a two-tailed t test. RESULTS: Baseline anxiety levels, measured on a 1-6 scale, were similar between the PIL group (mean 4.26, SD 1.11) and the control group (mean 4.36, SD 1.17; β = -0.11, P = 0.54). Post-procedure, while fewer patients in the PIL group reported that "everything was fine" (28/82 vs. 39/85), this difference was not statistically significant after correction for multiple comparisons (uncorrected P = 0.038, α FDR = 0.01). No significant differences were found between groups regarding "unpleasant mouth sensations" (P = 0.84) or "quick adjustment" (P = 0.52). CONCLUSION: Providing PILs in addition to verbal information did not significantly impact pre-procedure anxiety or post-procedure well-being in this sample of Czech dental patients. These findings indicate that verbal communication alone may be sufficient for managing patient anxiety and promoting well-being in this context. Further research using validated instruments and exploring different communication strategies is warranted.

• Keywords
• Anxiety management, dental anxiety, dental care, doctor-patient communication, information leaflet, patient education, well-being,
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH

This study was focused on verifying the factor structure of the shortened version of the Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS) on a representative sample of adult Slovak citizens (N = 1018, 49% men, age 18-85 years, and mean age 46.2). The shortened version of the SWBS consists of 10 items divided into two subscales: religious well-being (RWB) and existential well-being (EWB). Results of confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) showed insufficient parameters of the full two-factor model due to three negatively formulated items. After their exclusion, the two-factor model was found to be valid in the Slovakian population (χ (13) = 53.1, p < 0.001, χ2/df = 4.1, CFI = 0.999, TLI = 0.999, RMSEA = 0.055, and SRMR = 0.028). The reliability of the final version of the SWBS-Sk, consisting of seven positively worded items, is high, with α = 0.86 and ω = 0.94. Religious respondents and women scored significantly higher on the whole scale (p = 0.001) as well as on the two subscales (p < 0.05). A higher age was associated with a higher RWB score (p = 0.001) and a lower EWB score (p = 0.002). The shortened version of the SWBS-Sk consisting of positively worded items was found to be valid and reliable for further use in the Slovak environment.

• Keywords
• SWBS, Slovak, representative sample, spiritual well-being, validation,
• MeSH
• Adult MeSH
• Factor Analysis, Statistical MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
• Psychometrics * MeSH
• Reproducibility of Results MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Check Tag
• Adult MeSH
• Middle Aged MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Adolescent MeSH
• Young Adult MeSH
• Male MeSH
• Aged, 80 and over MeSH
• Aged MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Slovakia MeSH

Empathy is a concept associated with various positive outcomes. However, to measure such a multifaceted concept, valid and reliable tools are needed. Negatively worded items (NWIs) are suspected to decrease some psychometric parameters of assessment instruments, which complicates the research of empathy. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the factor structure and validity of the TEQ on the Czech population, including the influence of the NWIs. Data were collected from three surveys. In total, 2239 Czech participants were included in our study. Along with socio-demographic information, we measured empathy, neuroticism, spirituality, self-esteem, compassion and social desirability. NWI in general yielded low communalities, factor loadings and decreased internal consistency. Therefore, in the next steps, we tested the model consisting of their positively reformulated versions. A higher empathy was found in females, married and religious individuals. We further found positive associations between empathy, compassion and spirituality. After the sample was split in half, exploratory factor analysis of the model with reformulated items was followed by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), which supported a unidimensional solution with good internal consistency: Cronbach's α = 0.85 and McDonald's ω = 0.85. The CFA indicated an acceptable fit χ2 (14) = 83.630; p < 0.001; CFI = 0.997; TLI = 0.995; RMSEA = 0.070; SRMR = 0.037. The Czech version of the TEQ is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of empathy. The use of NWIs in Czech or in a similar language environment seems to be questionable and their rewording may represent a more reliable approach.

• Keywords
• TEQ, empathy, negatively worded items, psychometric examination, validation,
• MeSH
• Empathy * MeSH
• Factor Analysis, Statistical MeSH
• Language * MeSH
• Humans MeSH
• Surveys and Questionnaires MeSH
• Psychometrics MeSH
• Reproducibility of Results MeSH
• Check Tag
• Humans MeSH
• Female MeSH
• Publication type
• Journal Article MeSH
• Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't MeSH
• Geographicals
• Czech Republic MeSH