Abstract
This study aimed to assess the perceived stress levels in students, assistants, and faculty members of the College of Dentistry, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal, University (IAU), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Using the Cohen’s perceived stress scale (PSS) questionnaire (consisting of 14 items, hence called PSS-14), an online observational survey was conducted. The PSS 14 was rated on a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (very often). The scores ranging from 0–18 represented low stress, 19–37 represented moderate stress, and 38–56 represented high stress. The second-and third-year students were designated as junior year students, while fourth-year onwards were considered senior year students. Out of total 265 participants, 65% (173) were female, and the majority of the participants were dental students 70% (185) with a mean age of 26.71 ± 9.26 years. In the present study, the average PSS score for the participants was computed as 29.89 (range score: 0–56) which shows moderate stress levels among the respondents. The PSS score for the students was 31.03; for the faculty, it was 28, while for the assistants, it was 27.05. Among the three participant groups, the students were found more on the severe stress side (19%) (p-value = 0.002), and among them, the senior year students (6th year) showed significantly higher stress levels compared to the junior year students (p-value = 0.005). Age-wise, the participants below 20 years were most stressed (21%), followed by those 20–30 years old (18%). Female participants were more severely stressed than males (17% vs. 10%, respectively). It was concluded that the students experienced more stress, followed by the faculty members and dental assistants. In addition, younger participants, females, and senior year students were more stressed than their counterparts. Future studies directed at evaluating stress levels of these groups from different dental institutes could provide an opportunity for policymakers to offer various resources to improve their mental health.
Highlights
The goal of the present study was to assess the perceived stress brought by the COVID-19 pandemic amongst students, dental assistants, and the faculty members of the College of Dentistry (COD), Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University (IAU), Dammam, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA)
Our results revealed a comparable stress level when they were compared to a study conducted on medical students in India, where the average perceived stress scale (PSS) scale score was 27.60 [28]
It was concluded that the students experienced more stress, followed by the faculty members and dental assistants
Summary
The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) originated as a cluster of inexact pneumonia cases in December 2019 in Wuhan, China [1]. It has become a global pandemic, affecting every nation of the world [2]. Experts have reported that when the COVID-19 virus infects someone, the lesions are not limited to their lungs: the virus causes viremia upon entering the human body, resulting in diverse clinical manifestations including fever, fatigue, diarrhea, and some other nonspecific signs and symptoms [3,4,5]. The COVID-19 is a highly transmissible disease [3]. Due to a high transmissibility rate, the
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