Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Rua Gonçalves Chaves 457, Pelotas, RS, 96015-560, Brazil.
Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Hidalgo, San Agustin Tlaxiaca, Mexico.
BMC Health Serv Res. 2022 Mar 25;22(1):393. doi: 10.1186/s12913-022-07792-y.
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly influenced the routine of healthcare workers. This study investigated the impact of the pandemic on dental practice and dentists' feelings in Latin America.
A survey was conducted with dentists from 11 Spanish-speaking Latin American countries in September-December 2020. Professionals were invited by email and via an open campaign promoted on social media. The questions investigated dental care routines, practice changes, and feelings about the pandemic. Descriptive statistics were used to identify frequencies and distributions of variables. Proportions were compared using chi-square tests.
A total of 2127 responses were collected from a sample with diverse demographic, sex, work, and education characteristics. The impact of COVID-19 was considered high/very high by 60% of respondents. The volume of patients assisted weekly was lower compared with the pre-pandemic period (mean reduction = 14 ± 15 patients). A high rate of fear to contracting the COVID-19 at work was observed (85%); 4.9% of participants had a positive COVID-19 test. The main professional challenges faced by respondents were reduction in the number of patients or financial gain (35%), fear of contracting COVID-19 (34%), and burden with or difficulty in purchasing new personal protective equipment (22%). The fear to contracting COVID-19 was influenced by the number of weekly appointments. A positive test by the dentists was associated with their reports of having assisted COVID-19 patients. The most cited feelings about the pandemic were uncertainty, fear, worry, anxiety, and stress. Negative feelings were more prevalent for professionals who did not receive training for COVID-19 preventive measures and those reporting higher levels of fear to contract the disease.
This multi-country survey indicated a high impact of the pandemic on dental care routines in Latin America. A massive prevalence of bad feelings was associated with the pandemic.
COVID-19 大流行对医护人员的日常工作产生了重大影响。本研究调查了大流行对拉丁美洲牙科实践和牙医感受的影响。
2020 年 9 月至 12 月期间，对来自 11 个西班牙语拉丁美洲国家的牙医进行了调查。专业人员通过电子邮件和社交媒体上的公开活动邀请参加。问题调查了牙科护理常规、实践变化以及对大流行的感受。使用描述性统计数据来确定变量的频率和分布。使用卡方检验比较比例。
从具有不同人口统计学、性别、工作和教育特征的样本中收集了 2127 份回复。60%的受访者认为 COVID-19 的影响高/非常高。每周就诊的患者数量低于大流行前（平均减少 14±15 名患者）。观察到对在工作中感染 COVID-19 的恐惧率很高（85%）；4.9%的参与者 COVID-19 检测呈阳性。受访者面临的主要专业挑战是患者数量减少或经济收益减少（35%）、对感染 COVID-19 的恐惧（34%）以及购买新的个人防护设备的负担或困难（22%）。对感染 COVID-19 的恐惧受到每周预约次数的影响。牙医的阳性测试结果与他们报告曾协助 COVID-19 患者有关。对大流行最常提到的感受是不确定、恐惧、担忧、焦虑和压力。没有接受 COVID-19 预防措施培训和报告感染疾病恐惧程度较高的专业人员负面感受更为普遍。
这项多国家调查表明，大流行对拉丁美洲的牙科护理常规产生了重大影响。大流行期间普遍存在不良情绪。
