Subjective Overload and Psychological Distress among Dentists during COVID-19

Eitan Mijiritsky, Yaira Hamama-Raz, Feng Liu, Abhay N. Datarkar, Luca Mangani, Julian Caplan, Anna Shacham, Roni Kolerman, Ori Mijiritsky, Menachem Ben-Ezra and Maayan Shacham
Additional contact information
Eitan Mijiritsky: Department of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck and Maxillofacial Surgery, Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv 6139001, Israel
Yaira Hamama-Raz: School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
Feng Liu: Department of Stomatology, Peking University, Beijing 100034, China
Abhay N. Datarkar: Department of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery, Govermental Dental College and Hospital Nagpur Maharashtra, Maharashtra 440003, India
Luca Mangani: Department of Chemical and Technological Sciences, University of Roma “Tor Vergata”, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Julian Caplan: Private Practice, Aviva Dentistry Ltd., St Albans AL1 3EN, Hertfordshire, UK
Anna Shacham: Lev Hasharon Medical Center, Netanya 42100, Israel
Roni Kolerman: Department of Periodontology and Dental Implantology, The Maurice and Gabriela Goldschleger School of Dental Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 6997801, Israel
Ori Mijiritsky: Department of Psychology, Tel Aviv-Yafo Academic College, Tel Aviv 6818543, Israel
Menachem Ben-Ezra: School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel
Maayan Shacham: School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 14, 1-10

Abstract: Psychological distress during the COVID-19 pandemic is not solely limited to SARS-CoV-2 infection. It may also be related to social, cultural, and environmental factors, which may act as additional stressors. The aim of the current study was to explore the association between psychological distress and subjective overload among dentists in different countries, and whether it is associated with COVID-19-related factors. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 1302 dentists from China, India, Israel, Italy, and the UK, who filled out demographics data, COVID-19-related factor questions, subjective overload, and psychological distress scales. Our findings showed that the positive association between subjective overload and psychological distress was different among countries, suggesting higher rate of intensity in Italy compared to China, India, and Israel (the UK was near significance with China and Israel). The interaction variable of the subjective overload × psychological distress was significantly associated with a particular country, with those individuals reporting fear of contracting COVID-19 from patients, fear of their families contracting COVID-19, and receiving enough professional knowledge regarding COVID-19. Given the above, dentists were found to have elevated levels of subjective overload and psychological distress, which differed among the countries, presumably due to certain background issues such as social, cultural, and environmental factors.

Keywords: subjective overload; psychological distress; occupational dentistry; stress; psychosocial factors; COVID-19 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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