Psychology Research and Behavior Management (Apr 2022)

Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Associated Anxiety, Fear and Preparedness Among Healthcare Students at University Teaching Hospital in KSA

  • Abullais SS,
  • Khan AA,
  • AlQahtani SA,
  • Al Zuhayr AZ,
  • Parveen S,
  • Saeed Alassiri A,
  • Alghamdi KA,
  • Mahmood SE

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 15
pp. 875 – 885

Abstract

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Shahabe Saquib Abullais,1 Abdul Ahad Khan,2 Shaima Abdullah AlQahtani,3 Aseel Zayed Al Zuhayr,3 Sumaila Parveen,4 Abdullah Saeed Alassiri,3 Khalid Abdulaziz Alghamdi,3 Syed Esam Mahmood5 1Department of Periodontics and Community Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi Arabia; 2Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi Arabia; 3Intern, College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi Arabia; 4Department of Psychology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, 202002, India; 5Department of Family & Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi ArabiaCorrespondence: Shahabe Saquib Abullais, Department of Periodontics and Community Dental Sciences, College of Dentistry, King Khalid University, Abha, 62529, Saudi Arabia, Tel +966583056343, Email [email protected]: The infectious pandemics are generally accompanied by an often-overlooked impact it has on the psychology of the masses. Healthcare students and workers are expected to develop significant levels of stress as compared to the general population. The significance of this study is to assess the depression, anxiety and stress faced by the healthcare students that may lead to unfavourable effects on learning and their overall psychological health.Methods: This assessment was done by means of an anonymous, online, closed-ended questionnaire. DASS-21 scale was the primary instrument used for this purpose. The responses were recorded on a 4-point Likert scale.Results: The study had more male students, majority were between 21 and 23 years of age, asymptomatic and almost equal proportion of students from the fraternity of dentistry, medicine, pharmacy and nursing. Dental and pharmacy students were associated with lower stress than medical students whereas nursing students experienced higher anxiety as compared to medical students. Close contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases experienced higher stress and anxiety. Daily patient exposure was associated with significantly higher stress anxiety and depression.Conclusion: Based on the observations of the present study, a support program for psychological training for these health care students should be introduced.Keywords: COVID-19, DASS, Saudi Arabia, healthcare, students

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