Fatores Associados À Ansiedade Em Acadêmicos De Odontologia Durante a Pandemia Da Covid-19

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a direct impact on mental health. University students, for example, have been affected mainly due to the various educational changes and, in relation to dental students, they have also dealt directly with the high risk of infection by the Sars-Cov-2 virus. The aim of this study was to analyze the factors associated with anxiety among dental students during the pandemic. The research had a cross-sectional design and a questionnaire formatted in Microsoft Forms, which was sent by e-mail, Whatsapp and Instagram to the students enrolled at the research institution. Anxiety was assessed using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI) and the independent variables were sociodemographic, academic, behavioral and pandemic-related characteristics, as well as fear of Covid-19 assessed by the Covid-19 Fear Scale (CSE-19). All data was analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics with a 95% confidence level. A total of 207 students took part in the survey and 72.9% of them showed clinical levels of anxiety. Being female, having a lower family income and spending more time on social media each day were significantly associated with anxiety. In addition, anxiety was positively correlated with fear of Covid-19. The study found no significant associations between anxiety and academic characteristics, except for a weak but statistically significant correlation between academic period and anxiety. Thus, based on the significant prevalence of anxiety among dental students, institutional efforts are needed to mitigate the psychological impacts of the pandemic on undergraduates.