Summary
During the COVID-19 pandemic, worries, anxiety and fear increased, especially when providing dental care. The objective of this research was to analyze the perception of fear of COVID-19 in general dentists and specialists during the pandemic. An observational, analytical, single center and homodemic study was designed. General stomatologists and specialists of any sex from various dental disciplines such as orthodontics, endodontics, maxillofacial surgery, etc., were included. The sample consisted of 72 dentists, 42 general practice (58.3 %) and 32 specialists (41.6 %). Data was collected from March to September 2021. 72 dentists participated (M= 39 years, S.D. 10.82). 69.4 % of the sample (n = 50) were women. According to the analysis of means of the total scale, it was found that men perceive themselves to be slightly more afraid of Covid-19 (M=3.09) than women during their dental practice (M=2.78) without significant differences. Age had an impact on the responses, since those over 40 years of age perceived more fear M= 3.23 (95% CI: 2.65-3.81) than the group from 20 to 40 years M=2.73 (95% CI: 2.37-3.09). Specialists also perceived greater fear of COVID-19 compared to general practice dentists (M=2.63) vs (M=3.06). The results denoted that 36.1 % of the dentists were afraid of COVID-19. Previous research showed similar results to the study by Monterrosa-Castro et al. (2020) in Colombian general practitioners in which 37.1 % presented symptoms of fear of COVID-19 (FCV-19S). The pandemic context, in addition to the uncertainty of the behavior of COVID-19 and the lack of mass vaccination at the time of collecting the data, played a very important role in the perception of fear of COVID-19. The specialists observed greater fear of COVID-19 as well as the older group.
KEY WORDS: Fear, COVID-19, oral medicine, pandemics, specialization.
How to cite this article
TEUTLI, M. K. M.; ESPINOSA DE SANTILLANA, I. A. & CAMPOS, R. N. H. Perception of fear of COVID-19 in General and Specialist Stomatologists. Int. J.Odontostomat., 17(2):117-123, 2023.
