The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on life quality of dental professionals

Abstract

Introduction: The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has become the most challenging issue for dental professionals all over the world. The majority of epidemiological reports focus on quality of life and health of general health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, it was aimed to assess the effects of the pandemic on dental professionals’ quality of life. Material and Method: After the vaccination of healthcare workers in Turkey during the COVID-19 pandemic, a descriptive cross-sectional study of 487 dental professionals was carried out by the researchers. Short Form-36 (SF-36) which is based on eight dimensions of health were used to assess dental professionals’ quality of life. The data was collected using an electronic questionnaire distributed online. The participants were asked to indicate their socio-demographic data, their practices regarding the COVID-19 pandemic and whether they had contracted the COVID-19 disease. Results: The quality of life of all participants was moderately disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic with a mental health score of 51.32 (±20.66) and a physical health score of 72.9 (±16.73). Participants who had case tracing duty during the COVID-19 pandemic scored lower with 45.83 (±20.08) in mental health and 66.94 (±18.47) in physical health. Overall, COVID-19 pandemic has a serious impact on the quality of life and and this impact is more marked in dental professionals with fewer years of experience and those who had case tracing duty during the COVID-19 pandemic. Conclusion: The results confirm the need to pay attention to the health of dental professionals who had case tracing duty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results also point out that dental professionals who are recent graduates and working in the public sector may be more likely to have well-being problems due to the COVID-19 pandemic.