Dental Nurses’ Mental Health in Germany: A Nationwide Survey during the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Main Authors: Mohamed Mekhemar, Sameh Attia, Christof Dörfer, Jonas Conrad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
• Series: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
• Subjects: COVID-19; dental assistants; mental health; anxiety; depression; risk factors
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/15/8108

Several studies have found a rise in the rate of psychological discomfort among healthcare personnel since the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. In this study, we analyzed the relationship between psychological variables of anxiety, depression, stress, avoidance, intrusion and hyperarousal and several factors among German dental nurses. For this poll, dental nurses were asked nationwide to take part via an online-based survey from July 2020 to January 2021. This survey gathered data on demographics, as well as psychological assessments through the Impact of Events Scale-Revised (IES-R) instrument, and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-21). The correlations between DASS-21/IES-R ratings and sociodemographic data were investigated using univariate analyses (Kruskal–Wallis and Mann–Whitney U tests). Single comparisons were performed using the Dunn–Bonferroni post hoc test if a relevant test result was significant followed by multiple linear regressions. Furthermore, 252 dental nurses took part in the study and showed overall normal or mild results of all psychological variables. Having immune-deficiency or chronic diseases, employment at a dental practice, being married, having no children and seeing the pandemic as a financial threat were presented as significant risk factors (<i>p</i> ≤ 0.05) with higher DASS-21 and IES-R scores. These results emphasize the aspects that must be considered to safeguard German dental nurses’ mental wellbeing during the crisis.