Psychological Impact of COVID-19 on Dental Interns; A Reality Check
Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic and the associated lockdown had universities to limit operation and restrict contact through recommended social distancing. it had an enormous impact at both societal and educational level. This study focuses on the psychological impact of the pandemic on dental interns
Methods: An online structured anonymous survey composed of 20 questions was sent to interns of various dental colleges in India. The questionnaire consisted of questions pertaining to demographic data, questions assessing the perceived impact of COVID?19 outbreak questions regarding their stress levels, fears and questions for assessing the psychological reactions, feelings and emotions experienced by students whilst thinking at COVID?19 outbreak were measured by the Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-Item Scale
Results: The perceived fears like Uncertainity about the future is seen among 60% of the participants followed by fear of contacting virus in 26% of the participants. S also shows most of the interns have fear, anxiety and sadness while thinking about covid. GAD scale 7 assessment showed mild to moderate depression in interns during the covid lockdown.
Conclusion: The study shows that interns were psychologically affected by covid 19 lockdown. which were significantly associated with fear and anxiety. it is imperative that adequate support is needed for dental interns in the midst of this pandemic and beyond.
Keywords:
COVID-19, Dental Interns, PandemicDownloads
References
Castagnoli R, Vote M, Licari A, Brambilla I, Bruno R, Perlini S, et al. . Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection in children and adolescents. JAMA Pediatr. (2020) 174:882–9. 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2020.1467
Peedikayil FC, Kottayi S, Ismail S. Attitude and response of Indian dentists about corona (Covid 19) infection. Dent Med Res 2020;8:59-64
Vetter P, Vu DL, L'Huillier AG, Schibler M, Kaiser L, Jacquerioz F. Clinical features of covid-19. BMJ. (2020) 369:m1470.
Lai J, et al. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw. Open. 2020;3:e203976.
Wilcha RJ. Effectiveness of Virtual Medical Teaching During the COVID-19 Crisis: Systematic Review. JMIR Med Educ. 2020;6(2):e20963. Published 2020 Nov 18. doi:10.2196/20963
Spitzer RL, Kroenke K, Williams JB, Löwe B. A brief measure for assessing generalized anxiety disorder: the GAD-7. Arch Intern Med. 2006 May 22;166(10):1092-7.
Saddik B, Hussein A, Sharif-Askari FS, et al. Increased Levels of Anxiety Among Medical and Non-Medical University Students During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the United Arab Emirates. Risk Manag Healthc Policy. 2020;13:2395-2406.
Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, et al. Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(5)
Ming HU, Zheng L, Xia Q, Deng YX. An investigation into the prevalence and related factors of anxiety in middle school students of Hunan Province. Chin J Clin Psychol. (2007) 28:449–52
Lai J, et al. Factors associated with mental health outcomes among health care workers exposed to coronavirus disease 2019. JAMA Netw. Open. 2020;3:e203976.
Jayaweera M, Perera H, Gunawardana B, Manatunge J. Transmission of COVID-19 virus by droplets and aerosols: A critical review on the unresolved dichotomy. Environ Res. 2020;188:109819. doi:10.1016/j.envres.2020.109819
Savitsky B, Findling Y, Ereli A, Hendel T. Anxiety and coping strategies among nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Nurse Educ Pract. 2020;46:102809
Ruiz MA, Zamorano E, Garcia-Campayo J, Pardo A, Freire O, Rejas J. Validity of the GAD-7 scale as an outcome measure of disability in patients with generalized anxiety disorders in primary care. J Affect Disord.2011, 128:277–86.
Carrascosa MMC, Campos T, Sampaio JE, Souza RRF, Ribeiro VL, Maia MLN, Gama LCL, Severino MP, Semer NK, Rondon O, Silva JBM, Miyazi M, Domingues SR, Batalha NES, Martins DE. Medical Interns and COVID-19: results of national research. Rev Assoc Med Bras (1992). 2020 Jun;66(6):812-817.
Cao W, Fang Z, Hou G, Han M, Xu X, Dong J, et al. . The psychological impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on college students in China. Psychiatry Res. (2020) 287:112934. 10.1016/j.psychres.2020.112934
Barzilay R, Moore TM, Greenberg DM, DiDomenico GE, Brown LA, White LK, Gur RE. Resilience, COVID-19-related stress, anxiety and depression during the pandemic in a large population enriched for healthcare providers. Translational Psychiatry. 2020;10(1):1–8
Isralowitz, R., Khamenka, N., Konstantinov, V., Gritsenko, V., & Reznik, A. Fear, depression, substance misuse and related conditions among multi-national medical students at the peak of the COVID-19 epidemic. Journal of Loss and Trauma 2020 , 1–4. 10.1080/15325024.2020.1799521.
Wang C, Pan R, Wan X, Tan Y, Xu L, Ho CS, et al. . Immediate psychological responses and associated factors during the initial stage of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) epidemic among the general population in China. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17:1729.
Holmes EA, O'Connor RC, Perry VH, Tracey I, Wessely S, Arseneault L, et al. Multidisciplinary research priorities for the COVID-19 pandemic: A call for action for mental health science. The Lancet Psychiatry. 2020;7(6):547–560
Downloads
Posted
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2021 Anargha G Anand, Elizabeth Jane Joseph, Renju Zacharias , Sruthima Haridas , Salabha A S, Faizal C Peedikayil
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Any non-commercial use, distribution, adaptation, and reproduction in any medium is permitted as long as the original work is properly cited. However, caution and responsibility are required when reusing as the articles on the preprint server are not peer-reviewed. Readers are advised to check for the availability of any updated or peer-reviewed version.
