Self-perceived anxiety and worry among primary dental care professionals during the pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.21527/2176-7114.2025.50.15379Keywords:
COVID-19, Primary Health Care, Mental health, DentistryAbstract
The objective of this study was to analyze the factors associated with anxiety and worry about working during the pandemic, as self-perceived by primary care dentistry professionals. This cross-sectional study had a sample of 512 dentists, technicians, and oral health assistants working in the state of Paraná. Data was collected via an online form between August and October 2020. Associations between the outcome (feeling anxious and worried) and individual (sociodemographic, health, and training) and organizational (work process and biosafety measures adopted) explanatory variables were obtained using Poisson regression (p<0.05). The prevalence of anxiety and worry about working in that period was 79.4%. Multivariate analysis indicated that assistants and technical professionals were more anxious and worried, reporting a risk of being affected by severe COVID-19, working in settings where patients were not questioned about respiratory symptoms and minimum social distancing was not observed in waiting rooms, and those who did not follow recommended standards for doffing. The conclusion is that there was a high prevalence of professionals who were anxious and/or worried about providing dental care during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, individual and organizational factors related to the work process in dental services were associated with anxiety and worry among dental professionals.
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Copyright (c) 2025 Letícia Simeoni Avais , Elis Carolina Pacheco, Renata Cristina Soares, Giovana Daniela Pecharki Vianna , Rafael Gomes Ditterich, Manoelito Ferreira Silva Junior, Marcia Helena Baldani
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