Relationship Between Mental Health and Death Anxiety During COVID-19 Pandemic in Dental Staff and Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Mahta Jazaiery; Kosar Rezaeifar; Mehdi Sayyah; Maria Cheraghi

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2022.849868

Relationship Between Mental Health and Death Anxiety During COVID-19 Pandemic in Dental Staff and Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Front Psychiatry. 2022 May 19:13:849868. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2022.849868. eCollection 2022.

Authors

Mahta Jazaiery¹, Kosar Rezaeifar², Mehdi Sayyah³, Maria Cheraghi⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Community Oral Health, School of Dentistry, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
² Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Medicine, School of Dentistry, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
³ Faculty Member of Education Development Center, Psychiatrist, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.
⁴ Department of Community Oral Health, Social Determinant of Health Research Center, School of Dentistry, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran.

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to determine the mental health and death anxiety among dental staff and students in school of dentistry during COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: It was a cross-sectional study among students (n = 300) and staff (n = 60) in School of dentistry in Ahvaz University of Medical Sciences during 2020. The instruments were a demographic questionnaire, Death Anxiety Scale, and Kessler Questionnaire. Data was analyze by using SPSS version 22, in all tests, the significance level was set at <0.05.

Results: The mean age of dental students and personnel was 23.96 and 40.08 years, respectively. The mean scores of death anxiety were higher in dental staff (8.53) than students (6.02) and the mean scores of mental health status were higher in students (14.78) than personnel (9.18). This indicates that death anxiety was higher in Dental staff, while students were in better mental health status. The correlation coefficient between death anxiety and mental health status was 0.366 among students (p < 0.001), while it was 0.429 among dental staff (p < 0.001), showing a medium relationship between death anxiety and mental health in both groups.

Conclusion: The overall findings represent a significant but contradictory relationship between mental health status and death anxiety among dental staff and students during the prevalence of COVID-19 pandemic. This suggests the impact of confounding factors in this area, which can be studied by future researchers and policy makers to design health promotion interventions.

Keywords: COVID-19; Iran; death anxiety; dental staff and students; mental health.