Dataset Information

Mental burden and perception of the study situation among undergraduate students during the COVID-19 pandemic: a cross-sectional study and comparison of dental and medical students.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

To investigate levels of distress, depression, anxiety, stress and perception of their current study situation during the COVID-19 pandemic among undergraduate dental and medical students.

Design

Observational, cross-sectional study including two consecutive surveys (May and July 2020).

Setting

A large medical school in Germany.

Participants

All first year dental and medical students were invited. 132 participating first year students (44 dental, 88 medical) from the first survey and 150 students (50 dental, 100 medical) from the second were included in our analyses.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Mental burden (distress thermometer, Patient Health Questionnaire-4, Perceived Stress Scale-4) and self-reported changes in mental health and perception of study situation during the COVID-19 pandemic (self-developed items) were compared. Open-ended questions were analysed by conventional content analyses.

Results

A considerable proportion of students (t1: May 2020: 84.1%; t2: July 2020: 77.3%) reported distress levels above cut-off. In July 2020, dental students reported significantly higher distress scores than medical students (dental: M=7.0, SD=2.3; medical: M=5.7; SD=2.1; p<0.001). More dental than medical students reported mild, moderate and severe levels of anxiety and depression symptoms. The majority stated that their mental health and study motivation had not changed during the pandemic. Logistic regression showed that being a dental student was significantly associated with a higher likelihood for serious worries regarding the study situation during COVID-19 at t1 (OR 4.0; 95% CI 1.1 to 14.2). At t2 higher distress was significantly associated with a higher likelihood for experiencing serious worries (OR 1.8; 95% CI 1.3 to 2.5). Regarding current concerns related to the pandemic, students most frequently reported difficulties with self-regulated learning (15.2%), study-related worries and uncertainty (14.4%), missing feedback of students and lecturers (11.4%) and lack of practical training (9.8%).

Conclusion

The results suggest that high mental burden and the lack of practical training among medical and dental students is an increasing problem, with a possibly even higher urgency in dental students. Tailored psychological and educational support offers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic might help them as they progress through (medical and) dental school.

SUBMITTER: Guse J

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8637311 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:IntroductionAwareness about dental implants is increasing among dental patients, which demands a higher level of competence for dental students. So, the objective of this study was to assess the knowledge and perception of undergraduate dental students about dental implants.Materials and methodsThis cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted after taking ethical clearance and approval from the Institutional Review Committee of B.P. Koirala Institute of Health Sciences and informed consent from each dental college of Nepal. The sample included all those students who were present at the time of survey. Data collection were carried out during the academic schedules of the colleges, supervised, and monitored by the investigators themselves. Collected data were coded, entered in Microsoft excel 2013 and descriptive analysis was carried out.ResultsA majority of the total (54.6%) and 59.2% of 5th year respondents perceived to be moderately well-informed about dental implants. The main advantage of dental implants was thought to be longevity by 53.1% of total and 48.4% of 5th year students; only 27.6% of the total and 42.2% of 5th year students said the main advantage of dental implants is they are more conservative than other tooth-replacement modalities. Highest percentage of the total respondents (31.9%) said most important factor for implant success to be implant type and material, whereas 59.8% of 5th year students said case selection. Those who felt dental implants require additional oral hygiene maintenance and care by the patient and dentist were 58.4% of total and 75.1% of 5th year students. Over two-thirds (67.5%) of total thought that economic feasibility will limit use of dental implants in Nepal. The difficulty encountered to place implants was perceived to be average by 56.8% of total and 58.1% of 5th year. There were differences in the perception and knowledge at different academic levels, but not as expected.ConclusionsIt could not be concluded that knowledge about dental implants increased with increase in academic level. Even at the late-clinical year a majority of students gave unsatisfactory responses.

Project description:BackgroundMental health problems among undergraduates are a significant public health concern. Most studies exploring mental health in this population during the pandemic have been conducted in high-income countries. Fewer studies come from Latin American countries. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, and suicide risk, and explore the association with several relevant variables in personal, family, university, and SARS-CoV-2 pandemic domains.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in Chile in a medium-size private University. Outcome variables were explored with valid instruments: Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), and the Columbia-Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS). Independent variables from personal (e.g., sex, age, sexual orientation, history of mental health problems, substance use), family (e.g., parental educational background, family history of mental health problems, family functioning), university (e.g., course year, financial support, psychological sense of university belonging, history of failing subjects) and SARS-CoV-2 domains (e.g., history of personal and family contagion, fear of contracting SARS-CoV-2, frequency of physical activity, keeping routines and social contact). Multivariable logistic regression models were conducted for each outcome, after univariable and domain-specific multivariable models. The significant variable at each step was selected if the p-value was ≤ 0.05.ResultsA total of 5,037 students answered the survey-the global response rate of 63.5%. Most of the students were females (70.4%) and freshmen students (25.2%). The prevalence of mental health problems was high: depression (37.1%), anxiety (37.9%), and stress (54.6%). Insomnia was reported in 32.5% of students, and suicide risk in 20.4% of students. The associated variables at personal domain were history of mental health problems, substance use, and sexual orientation; at family domain, family functioning and family history of mental health problems; at university domain, violence victimization and sense of belonging; and in SARS-CoV-2 domain, having a daily routine and fear to contracting SARS-CoV-2 by students themselves or others.ConclusionsThe prevalence of mental health problems is high among undergraduate students and some of the associated factors, such as victimization and a sense of belonging can be used in preventive interventions.

Project description:BackgroundThere is increasing interest in global health teaching among medical schools and their students. Schools in the UK and internationally are considering the best structure, methods and content of global health courses. Academic work in this area, however, has tended to either be normative (specifying what global health teaching ought to look like) or descriptive (of a particular intervention, new module, elective, etc.).MethodsWhile a number of studies have explored student perspectives on global health teaching, these have often relied on tools such as questionnaires that generate little in-depth evidence. This study instead used qualitative methods to explore medical student perspectives on global health in the context of a new global health module established in the core medical curriculum at a UK medical school.ResultsFifth year medical students participated in a structured focus group session and semi-structured interviews designed to explore their knowledge and learning about global health issues, as well as their wider perspectives on these issues and their relevance to professional development. While perspectives on global health ranged from global health 'advocate' to 'sceptic', all of the students acknowledged the challenges of prioritising global health within a busy curriculum.ConclusionsStudents are highly alert to the diverse epistemological issues that underpin global health. For some students, such interdisciplinarity is fundamental to understanding contemporary health and healthcare. For others, global health is merely a topic of geographic relevance. Furthermore, some students appeared to accept global health as a specialist area only relevant to professionals working overseas, while others considered it to be an essential part of working in the globalised world and therefore relevant to all medical professionals. Students also clearly noted that including 'soft' subjects and more discursive approaches to teaching and learning often sits awkwardly in a programme where 'harder' forms of knowledge and didactic methods tend to dominate. This suggests that more work needs to be done to explain the relevance of global health to medical students at the very beginning of their studies.