Stress of the 5th year dental student during pandemic spread of virus Covid-19 in Thailand (original) (raw)

The challenge in dental curriculum brings a stressful learning environment. To be competent in patient treatment, adequate practicing time is required. The COVID-19 pandemic control strategies including city lockdown may impact the mental health status of dental students. Therefore, this cross-sectional study was performed to survey the prevalence and the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on stress and burnout of undergraduate dental students (UG). The UG studying at the Faculty of Dentistry, Chulalongkorn University (FDCU) in the academic year 2020 were invited to participate. The self-reported questionnaire was distributed online during 23rd June – 05th July 2021. The stress and burnout level was measured using a specific Thai language questionnaire. Demographic data, personality type, and the level of COVID-19 impaction on the UG’s mental health were also collected. Descriptive statistics and ordinal logistic regression were used to investigate the associated factors of stress and burnout with a significance at p-value<0.05. The number of respondents was 180 (30 % response rate), 122 (67.8 %) were female, mean age 21.7 years. The participants who had job stress, began to burnout, and burnout were 66 (36.7 %), 39 (21.7 %), and 36 (20 %), respectively. The attitude during their study was the greatest odds of association with stress and burnout, while the personality type and exercise frequency were also associated factors. The worry of unable to complete the clinical requirements due to COVID-19 lockdown had the highest impact on the 4th and 5th year UG. In conclusions, around 80 % of UG of FDCU had stress and 40 % was classified as burnout. Several associated factors of stress and burnout were identified. The consequences of COVID-19 outbreak impacted the stress level. These results suggest an urgent need to support the UG to improve their mental well-being and quality of life.