Evaluation of the Fear and Anxiety Caused by the COVID-19 Outbreak Among Dentists

Abstract

Aim: Dental treatment procedures carry a high risk of COVID-19 infection due to face-to-face contact with patients and dental staff, which has a psychological impact on dentists. In this study, it was aimed to examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the fear and anxiety levels of dentists. Materials and Methods: An online cross-sectional questionnaire survey comprising of 8 questions was conducted among dental practitioners of Turkey. Age, gender, education level, working status, dentistry specialty, working situations in the filiation team, professional experience and income status were the demographic variables recorded. The following 8-item scale to assess participants’ fear and anxiety levels in the COVID-19 pandemic was designed. Differences in fear and anxiety level about COVID-19 pandemic based on participants’ demographic characteristics were analyzed with Chi-square test. Results were reported as statistically significant at p<0.005. Results: Totally 250 dentists participated in the survey and 69.7% of the participants were female, 30.3% of them were male. Statistical analysis of the data obtained showed that the fear levels was generally significantly higher for women than for men (p<0.05). It is seen that those who work in the filiation team are statistically more afraid of being infected (p:0.001), carrying the infection to their close surroundings (p:0.013) Conclusion: This study shows the data of fear experienced during COVID-19 among dentists in Turkey.

Keywords

• Fear
• Anxiety
• COVID-19
• Pandemic
• Dentist

COVID-19 Salgınının Diş Hekimleri Arasında Yarattığı Korku ve Kaygının Değerlendirilmesi

Abstract

Amaç: Diş tedavi prosedürleri hastalar ve diş ekibi ile yüz yüze iletişim nedeniyle yüksek bir COVID-19 enfeksiyonu riski taşımakta bu durum da diş hekimleri üzerinde psikolojik etki yaratmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, COVID-19 pandemisinin diş hekimleri üzerindeki korku ve kaygı düzeylerine etkisinin incelenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Türkiye'deki diş hekimleri arasında 8 sorudan oluşan çevrimiçi bir kesitsel anket çalışması yapılmıştır. Yaş, cinsiyet, eğitim düzeyi, çalışma durumu, diş hekimliği uzmanlığı, aile hekimliği ekibindeki çalışma durumları, mesleki deneyim ve gelir durumu kaydedilen demografik değişkenlerdir. Katılımcıların COVID-19 pandemisindeki korku ve kaygı düzeylerini değerlendirmek için 8 maddelik ölçek tasarlanmıştır. Katılımcıların demografik özelliklerine göre Covid19 pandemisi ile ilgili korku ve kaygı düzeylerindeki farklılıklar Ki-kare testi ile analiz edildi. Sonuçlar, p<0,005'te istatistiksel olarak anlamlı olarak rapor edildi. Bulgular: Ankete toplam 250 diş hekimi katılmış olup, katılımcıların %69,7'si kadın, %30,3'ü erkektir. Elde edilen verilerin istatistiksel analizi, korku düzeylerinin kadınlarda erkeklere göre genel olarak anlamlı düzeyde yüksek olduğunu göstermiştir (p<0.05). Filyasyon ekibinde çalışanların enfeksiyon kapmaktan (p:0,001), enfeksiyonu yakın çevrelerine taşımaktan (p:0.013) istatistiksel olarak daha fazla korktukları görülmektedir. Sonuç: Bu çalışma, Türkiye'deki diş hekimleri arasında COVID-19 sırasında yaşanan korkunun verilerini göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Korku
• Kaygı
• COVID-19
• Salgın
• Diş hekimi

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