An Assessment of Various Challenges Perceived by Dental Students amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Digital Questionnaire Study

Abstract

The objective of our study was to evaluate dental students’ perception of the challenges faced during the COVID-19 pandemic related to their clinical work, education, performance, online examinations, psychological health, and teamwork. A validated online questionnaire consisting of closed ended questions was sent to all the undergraduate dental students at our institute. Data were collected and analyzed statistically using a chi-square test to compare responses of male with female and junior with senior students. A total of 317 undergraduate dental students (N = 317) participated in this cross-sectional study. The most common challenges perceived by the participants were related to their exam duration (77.3%), patient availability (66.9%), difficulty in understanding online lectures (58.4%), and a fear of losing grades (57.4%). Participants reported that the COVID-19 pandemic affected their performance in the courses (75.4%), teamwork (72.2%), educational aspects (67.5%), and psychological health (51.1%). A significantly greater proportion of female students reported the adverse effects of COVID-19 on their psychological health than male students (p = 0.031). Senior students perceived the negative impact of COVID-19 on teamwork significantly more than the junior students (p = 0.004). The majority of students reported challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. Female students and senior students perceived more challenges than their counterparts. Future studies from other institutes of this region are recommended to establish a clearer picture of COVID-19 related challenges faced by dental students.

“Development and Validation of Professionalism, Perception, Fear, and Anxiety Assessment Scale of Dental Students about Dentistry After Outburst of Covid-19 And Its Variant.”

“…Only a few studies have looked at individual aspects of dental professionalism, such as Covid-19 Knowledge and Perceptions Among Dental Specialists [6], perceptions, and knowledge on the implementation of problem-based learning in UG dental curriculum design [7], and a scale for assessing attitudes toward e-professionalism among medical and dental students [8], Dental professionalism and influencing factors: patients' perception [9], challenges encountered by dental undergraduates during clinical training [10], The Fear of COVID-19 Scale [11], and the Scale for Attitudes Related to Dental Competencies [12] were available in the works of literature of both western and Indian countries, but there was no exclusive evaluation questionnaire for the assessment of Professionalism, Perception, Fear, and Anxiety among Dental Students Regarding Dentistry After COVID-19 Outburst. The current study was undertaken to create, validate, and pilot-test the questionnaire in a dental institution to fill this gap.…”