Tunis Med. 2025 Dec 27;103(10):1511-1517. doi: 10.62438/tunismed.v103i10.5429.
ABSTRACT
AIM: The present study aimed to assess the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health of dental students.
METHODS: The survey was designed as an online cross-sectional study conducted among dental students in Tunisia between May 2020 and January 2022 using a web-based questionnaire. Anxiety, depression, and stress were assessed using three standardized scales (validated French version); the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7), the Patient Heath Questionnaire (PHQ-9) depression scale, and the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10). The independent t-test and analysis of variance were used to determine the significance of the continuous data. Chi-square and Fisher exact tests were performed for categorical data.
RESULTS: A total of 366 dental students completed the questionnaire, 82.5% (302) were female and 17.5% (64) were male, with a mean age of 21± 6 years. Most participants (96.7%) were Tunisian and 25.7% were in the first grade. The mean scores for anxiety, depression, and stress were 11.48±5, 13.82±5.63, and 8.20±4.72 respectively. Female students were more likely to experience depression than male students ( P <0.05).A statistically significant difference was reported between students mental health status, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and PSS-10 scores ( P <0.05) and a statistically significant difference was found between students under medical care for mental health problems, GAD-7, PHQ-9, and PSS-10 scores (P<0.001).
CONCLUSION: During the pandemic, increased stress and anxiety have been reported among dental students, and some experienced symptoms related to depression.
PMID:41879704 | DOI:10.62438/tunismed.v103i10.5429
