Evaluation Of Awareness, Attitude And Experience Of Using Mouthguard Amongst Sportspersons During Contact Sports By Self Developed Tool: A Questionnaire Survey

Abstract

Aim: To develop and validate a tool for evaluate awareness, attitude and experience of using different varieties of mouthguards amongst sportspersons during contact sports. Method: Questionnaires with 13 questions were tackling by orthodontics for content validity. The final developed questionnaire was run using Google form, which was completed by 161 participants. Test-retest reliability and Cronbach’s alpha were applied on formulated questionnaire. Results: Content Validity Index revealed major rating of 3 or 4 score. The result showed the Cronbach’s alpha co-efficient for 13 items was 0.839, suggesting relatively high internal consistency and the questions are validated. From the received data of this study found around 55% participants were aware about mouthguard among them only 40% wear it during sports related activity. Most common reason given by players was it protects my teeth and gums from injury (57.1%) for wearing mouthguards. On visual analogue scale around 61.1% sports person gave comfort score above 8 for mouthguard. Conclusion: The developed questionnaire can be effectively used for further studies.  It revealed a lack of information regarding protective role of mouthguard. The overall experience of athletes regarding the use of mouthguards was good.