Subjective Overload and Psychological Distress among Dentists during COVID-19.

Eitan Mijiritsky,Yaira Hamama-Raz,Anna Shacham,Abhay N Datarkar,Feng Liu,Menachem Ben-Ezra,Ori Mijiritsky,Julian Caplan,Luca Mangani,Maayan Shacham,Roni Kolerman

doi:10.3390/ijerph17145074

Abstract

Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic is not solely limited to SARS-CoV-2 infection. It may also be related to social, cultural, and environmental factors, which may act as additional stressors. The aim of the current study was to explore the association between psychological distress and subjective overload among dentists in different countries, and whether it is associated with COVID-19-related factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1302 dentists from China, India, Israel, Italy, and the UK, who filled out demographics data, COVID-19-related factor questions, subjective overload, and psychological distress scales. Our findings showed that the positive association between subjective overload and psychological distress was different among countries, suggesting higher rate of intensity in Italy compared to China, India, and Israel (the UK was near significance with China and Israel). The interaction variable of the subjective overload × psychological distress was significantly associated with a particular country, with those individuals reporting fear of contracting COVID-19 from patients, fear of their families contracting COVID-19, and receiving enough professional knowledge regarding COVID-19. Given the above, dentists were found to have elevated levels of subjective overload and psychological distress, which differed among the countries, presumably due to certain background issues such as social, cultural, and environmental factors.

Highlights

Since late December 2019, the now-known severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread worldwide, leading to an international public health issue known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [1,2]
As dentists in each country follow the guidelines provided by their dental authorities, and based on social, cultural, and environmental diversity, we aimed to evaluate the association between psychological distress and subjective overload among dentists in different countries, and whether it is associated with such diversity and with COVID-19-related factors
The current study focused on the association between subjective overload and psychological distress among dentists from five countries during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak, and explored factors which were associated with this association

Summary

Introduction

Since late December 2019, the now-known severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus2 (SARS-CoV-2) has spread worldwide, leading to an international public health issue known as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) [1,2]. In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, medical staff worldwide are facing constant and high-magnitude stress during their daily work, which entails elevated risk of infection, frustration, exhaustion, social isolation, and being apart from their families [4]. Such stressful events during the COVID-19 pandemic may lead to increased risk of developing anxiety and stress disorders among medical staff, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) [5].

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