A comparative study to evaluate COVID-19 related anxiety and fear among medical doctors and dental surgeons

Abstract

Introduction: Worse mental health outcomes appear to be related to COVID-19, as the virus is perceived to be severe. Pakistan, being a developing country; is badly affected due to limited resources, low literacy rate, spread misinformation related to COVID-19, and immense burden on health care. 

Aim: Our study aimed to analyze the fear and anxiety among Pakistan’s medical doctors and dental surgeons and also highlight the factors.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study included 493 participants. Ethical approval and consent were taken.  Data collected by circulating the validated online questionnaire and analyzed using SPSS 21 and results were expressed as frequency and percentages. Independent T-test was applied to check the fear and anxiety among medical doctors and dental surgeons

Results: The study included 270 dental surgeons and 223 medical doctors. Results demonstrated severe anxiety among both groups of participants with dental surgeons (56.3%) demonstrating greater anxiety and compared to medical doctors (43.6%). The factors contributing to anxiety include lack of health facilities in the country, the impact of the disease on the economy of the country, disease transmission to family, and thought of when the disease would be eradicated. Gender appeared to have a significant association with anxiety and fear scores (p< 0.05).

Conclusion: The study demonstrated severe fear and anxiety among Pakistan’s dental surgeons and medical doctors with no significant difference in anxiety and fear scores between the two groups of health care professionals. This concludes an equal level of anxiety among dental surgeons and medical doctors during the current pandemic.