Dental Environment Stress Questionnaire Research Articles

The Impact of COVID-19 Fatigue and Pandemic Burnout alongside Academic Stress on the Gingival Health of Dental Students

Abstract Objectives Stress has delirious effects on gingival health. Dental students experience higher levels of academic stress during their education that requires clinical and patient management skills. Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) fatigue is a type of chronic stress that has put the population under high stress for an extended period of time. This study aimed to assess the impact of pandemic burnout and fatigue on the gingival health of academically stressed dental students. Materials and Methods This study compared junior (n = 20) and senior (n = 20) year dental students undergoing their final year exams. Gingival health was assessed by plaque index (PI), gingival index (GI), and modified papillary bleeding index (MPBI). Academic stress was measured by the dental environmental stress questionnaire, while COVID-19 burnout was judged by COVID-19 student stress questionnaire (CSSQ). Statistical Analysis Quantitative data were expressed as mean, standard deviation and median Student's t-test was used to compare two categories for normally distributed quantitative variables, while significance of the obtained results was judged at the 5% level. Results Gingival health evaluation revealed no significant differences in GI and PI; however, MPBI in juniors was more significant (p = < 0.001). Academic stress was significantly higher among seniors (p = 0.001); nevertheless, CSSQ showed low levels of stress toward the pandemic with no significant differences. Conclusion Gingival diseases are multifactorial in nature; stress is a biologically influencing factor as well. Despite the evidence of high academic stresses among dental students, the impact of COVID-19 fatigue on gingival health was inconclusive and slight differences were found between junior and senior-year dental students.

Academic Stress contributes to Temporomandibular Joint Disorders (TMDs) among Dental Students of the Universiti Teknologi MARA Malaysia, not the Social Stress: An Institutional Study

Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of TMD in dental students in Universiti Teknologi MARA, and to identify risk factors that may contribute (social vs academic) to TMD in dental students. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 202 dental undergraduate students, aged 19 to 25 years from year 1 to year 5 were recruited in our study. The respondents have undergone an assessment using a Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders (RDC/TMD) and Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaires. TMD was diagnosed by using RDC/TMD axis I and II. The DES questionnaire was based on five-point Likert scale, from a range of not pertinent to very stressful. Stress scores were measured from seven stressor domains. Statistical analysis was performed using Fisher-exact test using SPSS 20.0. Significance level was set at P≤0.05. Result: 13.3% of the students were diagnosed with TMD, The higher prevalence of TMD was detected among female students. Present study demonstrated that academic stress is significantly higher than social stress among all dental students. Among the domains in the academic stress, performance pressure found to be the highest to effect the students. Conclusion: The significant association between TMD and academic stress observed in our present study warrants further investigation to examine the underlying molecular mechanism of academic stress in TMD initiation and progression.

Stress experienced by dental students performing clinical training in different dental disciplines: a cross-sectional study.

To assess the stress level, the impact of stress factors, and discrepancies between fourth- and fifth-year undergraduate clinical students at the University of Jordan. A cross-sectional study was conducted in the academic year 2022/2023. The study group included fourth- and fifth-year dental students at the University of Jordan (n = 382) who were asked to voluntarily fill in an online dental environment stress (DES) questionnaire. Analysis was conducted using Mann-Whitney U test, independent t-test, χ2 test, and Spearman ρ rank correlations. Statistical significance was inferred when P < .05. Fourth-year students reported higher levels of nervousness before treating patients for the first time. Fifth-year students faced more difficulty, higher stress, and/or fear regarding the amount of assigned work, provided treatment, completed requirements, failing the course, time to finish assignments, patient comprehensive care, and financial expenses of the course. Comparison between groups revealed that the fifth-year students scored higher levels of stress on the total DES score and all partial DES scores. Furthermore, the total DES questionnaire scores were significantly correlated with grade point average (GPA) among the total study sample and the prosthodontics clinical course marks among the fourth-year students' group. The stress level among students in clinical courses was influenced by their academic performance, gender, year level, and the type and time needed for the provided treatment. Completing course requirements was among the most commonly faced stressors. Future research endeavors might be considered to study each clinical factor, its impact on students' stress level, and how to manage and positively improve these factors.

Dental and endodontic-related stress amongst undergraduate students before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: A mixed-methods study.

To determine and explain the principal sources of stress among preclinical and clinical dental undergraduate students with a particular focus on the stressors linked to endodontics. A mixed-methods study, with an explanatory sequential design, was employed. Volunteer students of second, third and fourth years were asked to complete both the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire and a bespoke questionnaire for endodontic-related stress assessment, which had 21 questions in common with the DES. The results were analysed by Kruskal-Wallis and Marginal Homogeneity tests. In the second part of the study, a qualitative phase was conducted through focus group interviews of students from each academic year included in the study. Interviews were analysed by inductive content analysis. The DES questionnaire determined that for all years the most stressful domains were 'performance pressure', 'workload' and 'clinical training'. According to the endodontic stress questionnaire, the most stressful domains were 'self-efficacy beliefs', 'endodontic clinical training' and 'faculty and administration' in early years, while they were 'endodontic patient treatment', 'performance pressure in endodontics' and 'clinical training' in later years. Comparing questions common to both questionnaires revealed that the stress score was lower for the endodontic stress questionnaire than in the DES questionnaire for 17 questions, being significantly lower for 13 questions (p < 0.05) and significantly higher for no question. The qualitative study showed that students' dental and endodontic-related stress was linked to different domains: patient, clinical procedure, organization, staff, academic education, evaluation and COVID-19-related issues. Qualitative aspects highlighted the important role that patients and COVID-19 have played in student stress. However, they suggested a possible explanation for the lower endodontic stress observed in this dental university hospital, which was based on: the nature of the teaching in endodontics, the consensus between endodontic supervisors, the use of a logical, progressive procedure and the considerable experience that students gain over the years. Students considered endodontics stressful; however, education can play a central role in reducing stress, particularly during the early parts of the undergraduate course.

Assessment of Perceived Stress and Stress Predictors Among Dental Students: An Institutional- Based Study

Background: Stress is one of the most prevalent psychological conditions globally. However, healthcare students are at an increased risk of psy-chological distress as compared to the normal population. Medical/Dental training is considered a stressful experience for students as they face a wide range of challenges related to their lengthy curriculums, patient care, and pursuit of academic excellence. Purpose: To assess the prevalence of perceived stress levels and associ-ated risk factors among undergraduate dental students Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 230 under-graduate dental students to assess their perceived stress using the Modi-fied version of the Dental Environment Stress questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests were used. P&lt;0.05 was considered significant. Results: Most dental students reported mild stress related to most of the academic and clinical components in the questionnaire. However, a higher percentage of pre-clinical students reported moderate and severe stress (37.5% &amp; 14.1% respectively) as compared to clinical year students (6.8% and 1.5% respectively) with p&gt;0.05. The major risk factors causing stress were competitiveness among peers, the pressure of the assessments, and the inability to balance the clinical and academic workload. Conclusion: Undergraduate dental students were found to be under stress due to a range of factors. The faculties need to identify and alleviate such stress among students through support systems.

The Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Stress and Anxiety of Dental Students.

To investigate the impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic on stress and anxiety of preclinical and clinical dental students. Dental students (participants) in their clinical course (CC; n = 64) or preclinical course (PCC; n = 53) were included in the study. The subjective perceived levels of stress and anxiety were evaluated using the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire and the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scales (DASS) questionnaire. Cortisol levels were measured in saliva samples collected from participants. Knowledge of the pandemic was evaluated using a 100-mm visual analog scale. All data were collected twice: once during the university holidays and once during term time. Results from DES, DASS, and salivary cortisol tests were compared between baseline and follow-up using descriptive and bivariate statistics. Multivariate linear regression models were computed with DES, DASS, and cortisol values as dependent variables to analyze possible influencing factors. Participants showed medium levels of stress and anxiety at baseline and follow-up. The DASS score in the "anxiety" subdomain was significantly higher in the PCC group than in the CC group at baseline (p < 0.001) and increased during term time. DASS scores in the "stress" subdomain also increased during term time. However, both subdomain scores were lower than the cutoff value for a psychological disorder. The mean total DES scores were 615.9 ± 97.7 in the CC group and 580.40 ± 98.9 in the PCC group. These scores indicated medium stress levels and were not significantly different between the groups, nor did they change during the study period. Mean saliva cortisol levels were higher in the CC group (9.2 ± 5.2) than in the PCC group (4.9 ± 2.2) at baseline (p < 0.001) but converged by follow-up. Multivariate regression models showed that intraindividual perception of stress at baseline was consistently the most important aspect for changes in stress and anxiety levels during term time. The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic affected stress and anxiety levels in some participants, but this was not ubiquitous. Intraindividual differences in stress perception seem to be more relevant than course affiliation (preclinical or clinical) or the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic to stress and anxiety levels in dental students.

Stress among Students’ of Dental College in Nepal

INTRODUCTION: Dentistry is a most stressful profession in the medical field. During the practicum period, most of the dental students feel stressed from internal and external environmental stressors. Therefore, this study was designed to assess the stress among dental students, this will provide applicable insights for further improvement. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional research design was used with an online Structure questionnaire to assess stress among the students of dental colleges of Nepal by using dental environmental stress (DES) questionnaire, which was developed by Garbee et al. Probability Proportionate to the size sampling technique was used to collect the sample. The organized data will be entered by using IBM Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20.0. The data will be further analyzed by using descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, median and standard deviation) and inferential statistics. RESULTS: Out of 756 students, 58.7% of the respondents were equal to or greater than 22 years of age. The median age was 22 years. Among them, 78.7% were female. Stress-related to domain, Professional and carrier-related stressor had higher, followed by academic performance and Clinic patient-related stress is mean percentage was 70.43, 69.17 and 61.09, respectively. About 50.3% had moderate levels and 15.3% of respondents had a severe level of stress. There was statically association between stress level with age (p=0.01), first choice of study (p=0.026), academic year (p=&lt;0.001) and current residence (p=&lt;0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Professional and carrier-related stressor, academic-related and patient-related stressors are higher in dental students. Severe Levels of stress increased over the academic year and peaked in 5th year. Stress affects student academic as well as professional carrier in the future so minimize the stressor by the institutional level.

Perception of Stress and Professional Burnout among Dental students during clinical years

Background: Dentistry is associated with numerous stressors and dental students encounter a lot of stress during their undergraduate studies. This study was conducted with the objectives to know the understanding of stress and factors among the clinical dental students. Aim: To determine the perception of stress and professional burnout and determine the possible factors of it among dental students at College of Dentistry Sharif Medical and Dental College Lahore. Methodology: A cross sectional study was carried out in May 2021 on 3rd and final year BDS students from Sharif Medical and Dental College Lahore by using modified dental environmental stress questionnaire. SPSS vn 23.0 was used. Results: Male students are mostly affected by rules and regulations (36%) and lack of time to do schoolwork (36%) whereas female students are mostly affected by fear of failing exam (65%) whereas female students are mostly affected by fear of failing exam (65%). Whereas a highly significant association is seen between fear of failing exam and gender i.e.,&lt;0.0001 for the major cause of causing stress. Conclusion: The result of this study shows that dental students of clinical years do suffer from stress. Syllabus and examination pattern should be amended to decrease stress as well as faculty attitude should be more supportive. Counselling sessions should be arranged for student’s better performance. Keywords: Stress, Burnout, Clinical dental students

Perceived stress and career planning awareness of Japanese and Taiwanese undergraduate dental hygiene students

Background/purposeDental hygiene students' stress might be rising with increasing undergraduate study content and expansions in dental hygienists' roles and expectations as society changes. This study explored Japanese and Taiwanese dental hygiene students’ perceptions of stress and their idea of career planning. Materials and methodsParticipants were second- to fourth-year students in the 2020 academic year at Tokyo Medical and Dental University (TMDU; n = 60) and Taipei Medical University (TMU; n = 62). An anonymous questionnaire was distributed, which included questions on demographic information and career planning, as well as the Perceived Stress Scale-10 (PSS-10) and modified Dental Environment Stress questionnaire (DES). ResultsThe response rates were 100.0% (TMDU) and 96.8% (TMU). The number of participants who chose dental hygiene as the first program choice (P < 0.001) and wished to work as dental hygienists after graduation (P = 0.018) in TMDU was significantly higher than in TMU. There was no significant difference between the two schools’ stress levels in both PSS-10 and DES-26. The factors influencing students who wished to work as dental hygienists after graduation were “clinical year or not” (P = 0.007) in TMDU, and the DES factor included items related to lack of confidence in becoming a successful and competent dental hygienist, expectations, and fear of the future (P = 0.033) in TMU. ConclusionBoth schools’ students experienced moderate or relatively low levels of stress. TMDU students had higher stress related to academic studies, while TMU students had slightly higher stress related to future anxiety.

Adapting the German version of the dental environment stress questionnaire.

To develop a German version of the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire, and to evaluate its reliability and validity. The original English DES questionnaire was translated into German using a forward-backward translation process. To evaluate construct stability, a subgroup of dental students (n=43) completed the DES twice (interval: 1week). To evaluate how the DES responds to anticipated changes in stress, all dental students' (n=64) DES scores and saliva cortisol levels administered from a clinical study were compared between holiday and term time. Furthermore, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) and a stress self-assessment were used to determine the validity of the DES. Reliability analyses were calculated using Kendall's tau correlations. To estimate reliability strength, correlation coefficients and intraclass correlations (ICCs) were used. Regarding construct stability, 24 of 25 DES items had at least moderate correlations, and most items showed strong correlations. Correlations for the seven subdomains were good (range: 0.778-1.000). The same was true for the total DES score (ICC: 0.944). Correlations for response to term-time stress were weaker and more varied. Validity analyses revealed fair correlations between the DES and students' self-assessment (Pearson's r=.592) and DASS score (Pearson's r=.392), suggesting satisfactory validity. Stress levels were quite similar between baseline and follow-up. The German DES is a reliable tool for evaluating stress in dental students. Because it can be used to identify individual stressors in various categories, it might enable the detection of specific stress situations in educational situations and facilitate solutions (adjustment of curricula, tailored consulting services).

PERCEIVED SOURCES OF STRESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE DENTAL STUDENTS IN INDIA – A CROSS SECTIONAL SURVEY

Objective: To investigate the perceived sources of stress, the role of parents, socio-cultural background and the learning environment on the stress levels of the students studying dentistry in Bapuji Dental College, Davanagere, India.Methods: In this cross sectional survey 320 dental students were invited to participate, and 284 responded, resulting in a response rate of 88%. A self administered 42 close ended Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire was used to assess various sources of stress.Results: The sample consisted of the subjects in the age range of 17-28 years, 59.5% of the students joined dentistry as their self choice followed by 9.5% due to parental choice and 31% as they had no other option. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) revealed perceived sources of stress between classes and across all classes: final year students ranked high (3.32±0.87) due to examinations and grades. Difficulty in learning precision manual skills for doing clinical and laboratory work resulted in highest stress among the first years (2.45±0.83). Working on patients with dirty mouth resulted high amount of stress in final year students (2.84±0.95).Conclusion: The increased amount of stress among dental students highlights the importance of periodic interaction between the students, college faculty and educational psychologists to maximize performance of the students and minimize stress.

Stress, Sleep Quality, and Academic Performance among Dental Students in Shiraz, Iran.

Background Quality of sleep and stress level can affect the health, capacity of learning, and academic performance of the students. This study aimed to investigate the association between stress and sleep quality with academic performance among undergraduate clinical dental students in Shiraz, Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted during the second semester of the academic year 2020–2021 among clinical dental students at Shiraz Dental School, Iran. A total of 138 students completed Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) and dental environment stress (DES) questionnaire. The grade point averages (GPAs) of the previous terms of the participants were also collected. Data analysis was performed using Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, the one-way ANOVA, post hoc Duncan's test, nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis H test, Wilcoxon–Mann–Whitney test, and the chi-squared test. The p values of less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results Clinical dental students participated in this study experienced moderate levels of stress and poor sleep quality. Mean total DES and PSGI scores did not differ by sex, year of study, marital status, and place of residence (p values >0.05). Most of the students (52.9%) had moderate GPAs. A significant relationship was observed between sex and GPA as well as between place of residence and GPA (p values <0.05). No significant differences were found between DES total score or PSQI score and GPA categories (p values >0.05). A significant direct relationship between DES total score and PSQI score was observed (p < 0.05). Conclusion Dental undergraduates in Shiraz, Iran, experienced moderate levels of stress and poor sleep quality. The results showed no significant difference between sleep quality or DES and academic achievement. However, a significant direct correlation was observed between sleep quality and dental environment stress.

Major Stress Sources Amongst Dental Students at Damascus University, Syria

IntroductionStress amongst dental students is frequently reported. Various environmental, socioeconomic, and cultural factors affect students’ perceived stress levels. The aim of this study was to investigate stress levels and sources amongst undergraduate dental students at Damascus University, Syria. MethodsA cross-sectional design was used. A questionnaire was undertaken in 2019 at the Faculty of Dentistry at Damascus University. Students participated voluntarily in the survey. The sample comprised students at the preclinical and clinical stage. A modified 29-item version of the validated Dental Environmental Stress (DES) questionnaire with a 5-point scale (1 = not stressful to 5 = extremely stressful) was used as the measurement tool. Ethical approval was granted by Damascus University. ResultsIn all, 365 students participated in the study, with a response rate of 96% (365/379). Cronbach's alpha was 0.83, indicating good reliability of the measurement tool. The overall mean score of the perceived stress was 2.64 (95% confidence interval [CI], 2.5-2.7). The mean scores for clinical factors, academic work, educational environment, personal factors, and living accommodation were 3.22 (95% CI, 3.1-3.3), 3.17 (95% CI, 3.1-3.2), 2.99 (95% CI, 2.9-3.0), 2.15 (95% CI, 2.1-2.2), 2.15 (95% CI, 2.0-2.2), respectively. The specific stressors with the highest mean scores were lack of dental equipment and difficulty in finding requested clinical cases; the respective means were 4.1 (95% CI, 4.0-4.2) and 3.9 (95% CI, 3.8-4.0). ConclusionsThe findings revealed moderate stress levels amongst students. The major stress factors pertained to stressors from the clinical, academic, and educational environment domains. Certain clinical and environmental stressors, such as difficulty in finding clinical cases and lack of dental equipment, were more powerful than the strongest academic stressors, such as examinations and grades and amount of assigned work.

Evaluation of Environmental Stress among Students of Kashan Dental School in Academic

Introduction: Studying dentistry is associated with high levels of stress. The aim of this study was to investigate the environmental stress experienced by students of Kashan Dental School and influential factors during the academic year of 2020-2021.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: In this study, all clinical students of Kashan Dental School (118 people) were studied via census method. The standard dental environment stress questionnaire (DES) with demographic characteristics was used to collect information.&#x0D; Results: In this study, 57.6% of students depicted high environmental stress. The highest frequency of environmental stress was observed in the field of patient treatment (75.4%) and clinical education (66.9%). Environmental stress with regards to gender, place of residence and father's occupation was significant (p value &lt; 0.05). Meanwhile, this variable was not statistically significant with regards to marital status, average grade from last semester, mean age, mother's job and both parents' education (p value &lt; 0.05).&#x0D; Conclusion: Due to the high level of stress in dental students during their studies and also provided, the dangers of elevated stress, it is necessary for responsible authorities to pay more attention to this issue. In addition, female students, dormitory students and students whose father's are employed by the government are most in need of support.

Factors Affecting Stress among the Selected Dental College Students in Dhaka

Background: Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) course is a long course for undergraduate level in the medical sciences, which causes different types of stress among the significant number of students. Those stresses critically affect the physical and mental health of the students, which also effects on their academic performance and professional practice. Methods: A cross sectional study was carried out to determine the factors affecting stress among 174 undergraduate dental students of selected three dental medical colleges in Dhaka through a pretested semi-structured questionnaire with the modified version of the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire. Results: Half of the undergraduate dental students (49.4%) were found in moderately stressful. As a sources of stress, personal factors were highly stressful, training factors were slightly stressful and academic environment were moderately stressful among the dental students. Level of stress were statistically significant with age group (0.001), marital state (0.047), studying class (0.001), conflict with parents over career (0.031) and reduced sleeping times (0.001). Conclusion: The study shows that a proper academic environment needs to be formed for dental students through modifying the academic curriculum and evalution systems and proper counseling program to improve their motivation, self-confidence and productivity in their performance.

Stress amongst paediatric dental postgraduate students in India: A mixed-method approach.

Dental profession is one of the most stressful healthcare occupations. Paediatric dental postgraduates face multifaceted challenges in their everyday practice. This study aimed to determine the sources of stress amongst paediatric dental postgraduate students in India using a mixed-method approach. A sequential mixed-methods approach was employed. In the quantitative phase, a cross-sectional web-based questionnaire survey was conducted amongst paediatric dental postgraduates in India using the "Google Forms application" link. Based on the Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire, the stress PACT questionnaire which includes 35 items was framed and validated. This validated questionnaire was used in the survey. In the qualitative phase, one-on-one, semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted amongst 12 postgraduates. A total of 422 participants took part in the quantitative survey. Academic and specialty-related domains were found to be the significant causes of stress amongst the five domains (p<.001). The top three stressful factors were as follows: getting an ideal case for clinical exams (68.2%), financial resources for conferences, dissertation, short studies and publications (53.2%) and fear of unemployment after graduation (52.3%). Based on qualitative interviews, four themes were derived, namely choice of paediatric dentistry, postgraduate life experience, stress management and expected changes in postgraduate life. Psychological well-being of the student is an important factor that influences the overall performance of students. Identifying the stress factors and using appropriate coping strategies can help postgraduates achieve personal, academic and professional success.

Perception of Academic Stressors Among Dental Undergraduate Students

OBJECTIVE: Present study was conducted to assess the perceived academic sources of stress among undergraduate dental students and determine its association with gender, year of study, pre-university education and accommodation. METHODOLOGY: This study was conducted in dental section, Islamabad Medical and Dental college, Islamabad from July to November 2016. BDS students were asked to rate their perceived stress on four point Likert scale of modified version of Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were applied to find the mean scores and SD on all items. Using SPSS v.21, Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare stress levels among different undergraduate professional years and Mann-Whitney U test was applied to determine the association and stress sources and demographic variables. RESULTS: A total of 172/200 participants responded (86%) to the survey. Overall stress in undergraduate dental students was in moderate range. Majority of students (93%) reported that syllabus load was either stressful or very stressful (3.53±0.64), 85% students reported lack of relaxation time as stressful or very stressful (3.42±0.86) and fear of failing was reported as stressful or very stressful by 82.5% (3.34±0.87). When stress scores of all classes were compared third year reported more mean stress scores than other years (2.50±0.50). Females were more stressed compared to males with mean score of (2.37±0.39), students living at home were more stressed than hosteilites (2.38±0.38) and those with GCE A-levels had higher stress (2.40±0.38) compared to HSC background students. Academic performance was the most stressful of the five stress domains (3.07±0.74). CONCLUSION: Syllabus load followed by lack of time for relaxation and fear of failing were the most perceived sources of stress. Academic performance was the most stressful of the five stress domains and third year BDS was the most stressed class. KEY WORDS: Dental Education; Dental Students; Psychological Stress, Stressor, Undergraduate,.

Effect of Dental Environment Stressors and Coping Mechanisms on Perceived Stress in Postgraduate Dental Students.

ABSTRACTAim and objectiveTo investigate the effect of dental environment stressors and coping mechanisms on perceived stress in postgraduate dental students.Materials and methodsThis cross-sectional study enrolled 250 postgraduate students from four dental colleges. Modified dental environment stress (DES) questionnaire was used to study the dental environment-related stressors, perceived stress score (PSS) to measure the extent of stress perception, and brief COPE (BC) scale to measure the use of various coping strategies deployed to combat stress. An independent T-test was used to determine the associations of these measures with gender and marital status and one-way ANOVA for associations with year of study. Hierarchical regression was used to determine the effect of demographic factors, career-related psychological background, health-related habits, DES, and BC score on PSS.Results“Synopsis, thesis, library dissertation” and “lack of adequate infrastructure” were reported as the highest stressors by the postgraduate students. Only 4.8% of respondents perceived low stress, while 65.2% perceived high stress. A high correlation between the DES score and PSS was observed. Active coping, acceptance, and positive reframing were the most commonly utilized coping strategies. Planning and use of emotional support were the only coping strategies that were significant negative predictors of PSS. Problem-focused coping strategies had a positive, but non-significant correlation with PSS, while emotion-focused coping strategies had a significant negative correlation with PSS.ConclusionPostgraduate dental environment causes a high-stress perception in students and reactive coping strategies have only a limited role in reducing stress perception.How to cite this articleSikka N, Juneja R, Kumar V, et al. Effect of Dental Environment Stressors and Coping Mechanisms on Perceived Stress in Postgraduate Dental Students. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2021;14(5):681–688.

Dental Environment Stress and The Related Factors in the Iranian Dental Students: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

Background: Stress is an influential factor in mental health; and can lead to psychological disorders. Thus, it has always been a concern for the medical personnel, and particularly dental students. This systematic review aimed to assess the dental environment stress and the related factors in the Iranian dental students. Methods: In this systematic review, an electronic search of the literature was carried out in the Iranian and international databases, and all possible combinations of relevant keywords were searched using the Boolean operators. Data were analyzed using STATA SE 13.1 meta-analysis software. Heterogeneity of the data was evaluated using the I2 statistics, and the correlation between age and level of stress was analyzed by meta-regression. In the Chi-square (X2) heterogeneity test, P-value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: A total of 16 eligible articles (3,521 dental students) out of 821 retrieved studies were reviewed in this systematic review. The mean overall stress level of the Iranian dental students was 2.18 (95% CI:1.87-2.49). The maximum (2.21) and minimum (2.10) mean overall stress values of the Iranian dental students were associated with the dental environment stress (DES) questionnaire and the depression, anxiety and stress scale (DASS-21), respectively (P>0.05). Also, the 4th and 5th year dental students had the maximum (2.24) and minimum (2.01) mean overall stress levels, respectively (P>0.05). Gender had no correlation with the stress level (P=0.520). Conclusion: The mean stress level of the Iranian dental students is moderate to high. Since stress reduction is directly correlated with the promotion of mental health and function, the authorities are required to revise the educational curricula following consultation with the counselors and implement effective programs to minimize the stress level of dental students. Also, achieving efficient communication between dental students and instructors can greatly improve the quality of clinical education.

Stress Among Dental Students And Its Association With Substance Abuse– A Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Dental education is supposed as an extremely challenging and enormously stressful experience globally. This resultant stress can lead to depression, anxiety, absenteeism, diminished work efficiency, sleep problems, lower academic performances, and burnout. Moreover, it has also been interrelated with drug addiction and substance abuse.The present study was conducted to find out the association of Stress with Substance Abuse among Dental Students in Ghaziabad, India. Methodology:This is a descriptive Cross-sectional study conducted among 275 dental students. Dental Environmental Stress (DES) questionnaire was used to gather the data regarding stress. The assembled data was exposed to frequency distribution analysis using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software (SPSS) 21.0v. Association of Level of Stress with Substance Abuse among Dental Students was assessed using Chi-square analysis with ap value ≤0.05 considered statistically significant. Results:The response rate of this study was 91.2%. Out of the 251 study participants, 65.3% were females and 34.7% were males. The mean age of the study subjects was 24.20 ± 3.688. According to the level of stress, there were 18.7% highly stressed students among which 46.8% were having smoking habit and 14.9% consumed alcohol regularly. Association of level of stress with smoking was found to be statistically significant (p≤0.05) whereas its association with alcohol consumption was not statistically significant. Conclusion: In the present study, there is a high prevalence of stress among the dental students and most of the highly stressed students were having habit of smoking. So, it can be concluded that stress have a significant association with smoking but its association with alcohol is uncertain. Keywords:Alcohol drinking,Dental students, Psychological Stress, Smoking, Substance-related disorders.