Stress, Anxiety and Depression Levels Associated with COVID 19 among the Oral Health Care Workers in North India: A Cross-Sectional Study

ABSTRACT

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused an impervious financial and psychological burden. Health care professionals, including oral health care workers, have been risking fighting the pandemic. The chief objective of the current study was to estimate the rates of prevalence of depression, stress, and anxiety among the oral health care professionals in Jammu and Udaipur city. The study was delineated as an online cross-sectional questionnaire-based research. It was mailed to different practitioners between May and July 2020, particularly those offered their services in COVID centers. The participants were to fill the self report questionnaires. Then, the parameters were measured using depression, anxiety, and stress scale 21(DASS 21) and Hamilton anxiety rating scale (HARS) to measure the degrees of depression, stress, and fear among the volunteers. The target population was divided into age groups between 23 to 28 years and over 28 years. Four hundred ninety responses were received and were considered for the study. The acquired data were analysed using IBM SPSSsoftware (windows version 23). The mean and standard deviations were calculated for stress, anxiety, depression using mentioned scale. The results were compared based on gender and age group. A statistically significant variance in stress level was found between male and female groups (p=0.002) and for the two age groups (p=0.001). Using the Hamilton anxiety rating scale, no statistically significant divergence could be seen among male and female participants. The current study showed stress, anxiety, and depressions were prevalent among health care workers working in COVID pandemic situations. Therefore, mental health status must be addressed, and issues must be resolved. © 2022, DESIDOC.