KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS OF ANTHROPOPHOBIA AMONG UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS IN CHENNAI- A QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEY

Abstract

Introduction: Anthropophobia means fear of humans. It's easy to create a new society but very difficult to keep it running in a peaceful manner. It's believed that the quality of social relationships play a major role in the mental health of an individual. These factors also affect the character and personality of an individual. Society and our family are very important to lead a good quality of life. No one can escape society forever.

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the impact of anthropophobia as a whole among the dental students of a private dental college.

Materials and method: An online questionnaire, which contained a set of questions about their experience with large crowds and their interactions with people in public gatherings. These 15 survey questions were circulated to 100 dental undergraduate students in Saveetha Dental College through google forms and the responses were tabulated in Microsoft Excel and statistically analysed by SPSS version 27 using Chi square test. Pie charts for descriptive data and Bar graphs were plotted for correlation.

Results: From this study we found that about 43% of the students were slightly afraid of people in one form or the other.

Conclusion: Everyone in this world has this phobia in one form or other, but the level of impact differs from one person to another. Some people may be afraid of meeting new people, some may be afraid to speak in a gathering.