Volume 25, Issue 116, October 2021

Assessment of psychological impact of covid-19 pandemic on dental professionals of West-Central Maharashtra State, India

Preeti Kale^1♦, Anuraga Sekharamantri², Asawari Lawande³, Shraddha Bhandari⁴, Pranay Thakkur⁵, Mrunal Deshmukh⁶, Ameet Mani⁷, Raju Anarthe⁸, Gowri Pendyala⁹, Rachita Mustilwar¹⁰

¹Lecturer, Department of Periodontology, Pravara Rural Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
²Lecturer, Department of Periodontology, Saraswati Dhanvantari dental College and Hospital, Parbhani, Maharashtra, India
³Lecturer, Department of Periodontology, Yashvant Chavhan Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
⁴Lecturer, Department of Periodontology, CSMSS dental College and Hospital, Aurangabad, Maharashtra, India
⁵Lecturer, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Rishiraj Dental College and Hospital, Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, India
⁶Lecturer, Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Rural Dental College and Hospital, Nanded, Maharashtra, India
⁷Professor & HOD, Department of Periodontology, Pravara Rural Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
⁸Professor, Department of Periodontology, Pravara Rural Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
⁹Reader, Department of Periodontology, Pravara Rural Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India
¹⁰Lecturer, Department of Periodontology, Pravara Rural Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India

^♦Corresponding author
Lecturer, Department of Periodontology, Pravara Rural Dental College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, Maharashtra, India

ABSTRACT

Bakground: Currently whole world is under the constant threat of COVID-19 pandemic. Dentists are at the high risk as they are directly exposed to aerosol produced and salivary droplets. Isolation and its financial impact have created physical and psychological pressure, depression, anxiety and other mental health concerns. Materials and methods: An online structured cross-sectional survey was conducted during September and October 2020. 25 item surveys were developed and was randomly circulated and distributed among the 620 Dental professionals of Ahmednagar district through link using email and messages. Psychological impact of COVID-19 was assesses using GAD -7 scale (Generalised Anxiety Disorder), which measures the presence and severity of anxiety symptoms. Descriptive statistics was applied to represent participants characteristics and Chi-Square test was applied to evaluate the level of association among variables with a significance level of p<0.01. Results: Among 600 participants from the study 37% (222) displayed mild signs of anxiety, about 40% (240) displayed moderate anxiety while 23% (138) displayed severe signs of anxiety as assessed using GAD -7 scale (Generalised Anxiety Disorder). Conclusion: Dental professionals all over the world felt a moral duty to reduce routine care for fear of spreading COVID-19 among their patients and beyond, but they are understandably concerned about the financial consequences. The findings of present study are useful in highlighting the psychological effect of COVID-19 pandemic on dental professionals of west-central Maharashtra state, India.

Keywords: Dentist, COVID-19, Psychological impact

Medical Science, 2021, 25(116), 2546-2551

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