Effect of COVID-19 Pandemic Psychological behavior of Dental Assistants in Saudi Arabia: A Cross-sectional Survey Effect of COVID-19 on Dental Assistants Psychological behavior

Main Article Content

Sunil Babu Kotha
Sara Khalid AlAwad
Raghd Abdullah Albarrak
Reema Abdullah Alzahrani,
Alanoud Fahad Binmeqren
Sree Lalita Kotha

Keywords

Coronavirus Disease-2019, Dental professionals, Anxiety, Stress

Abstract

Background: As per the various guidelines, dentists and dental auxiliaries are considered at high risk for the spread of COVID-19 as they directly come in contact with the patient's oral cavity. So, during the pandemic, their stress level of getting contaminated with the virus was high. Hence, the present research aimed to estimate the psychological impact of COVID-19 on dental assistants in Saudi Arabia during this pandemic.


 Methodology: This questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was carried out on the dental assistants during the Covid-19 pandemic through a pre-validated Depression, Anxiety, Stress Scale with 21 Items (DASS-21) to assess the psychological impact on their mental health. The questionnaires were sent to the participants through the mail using Google Forms. One reminder e-mail was sent after a week to fill and submit the form. Data were entered into Microsoft excel and later analyzed by SPSS software.


 Results: The response rate of the dental assistant was 75% (210 responded out of 280). Most of the dental assistants were 20-40 years old, and only ten were above 50. Most participants were females (180) and were of non-Saudi origin. In a comparison of DAS scores between males and females, the results were statistically significant (p value= 0.001); a higher mean total DAS score was noted in males (20.03) when compared to females (13.68).


 Conclusion: HCWs in direct contact with patients like dental assistants have higher chances of getting the infection, which increases their psychological stress and anxiety. 

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