Stomatological Hospital and Dental School of Tongji University, Shanghai Engineering Research Center of Tooth Restoration and Regeneration, Shanghai, China.
Shanghai Mental Health Center, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China.
BMC Oral Health. 2023 Jul 10;23(1):470. doi: 10.1186/s12903-023-03151-3.
Within 3 years of the COVID-19 pandemic, increasing interest has been given to its potential influence on health status due to lockdowns caused by the pandemic. However, the impact is inadequately understood, especially for college students. This study aimed to investigate the potential association between psychological stress, anxiety and oral health of college students during the Omicron wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
An online survey with measurements of psychological stress, anxiety and oral health was completed by 1770 Chinese college students. The Perceived Stress Scale-14 (PSS-14) and Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7) were used to measure psychological stress and anxiety, respectively. Oral health status was self-reported including toothache, gingival bleeding, and oral ulcer. Multivariable logistic regressions were performed to determine underlying associations for outcome variables. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was performed to confirm the relationship between mental and oral health status.
Of the 1770 subjects, 39.2% presented high psychological stress and only 41.2% expressed no anxiety. A significant association was found between psychological stress, anxiety and oral health status. Anxiety has significant impacts on toothache (OR = 0.36; 95%CI: 0.23-0.55; p < 0.01), gingival bleeding (OR = 0.43; 95%CI: 0.29-0.65; p < 0.01), and oral ulcer (OR = 0.54; 95%CI: 0.36-0.80; p < 0.01). Anxiety significantly mediated the association between psychological stress and self-reported oral symptoms.
Anxiety may be a significant risk indicator for mental health among college students and demonstrates a significant relationship with the occurrence of self-reported oral symptoms. Concerns about academic and life changes caused by the pandemic were the two most significant sources of stress.
在 COVID-19 大流行的 3 年内，由于大流行导致的封锁，人们越来越关注其对健康状况的潜在影响。然而，其影响还没有被充分理解，尤其是对大学生而言。本研究旨在调查 COVID-19 大流行奥密克戎浪潮期间大学生心理压力、焦虑与口腔健康之间的潜在关联。
1770 名中国大学生完成了一项在线调查，其中包括心理压力、焦虑和口腔健康的测量。使用 14 项感知压力量表（PSS-14）和 7 项广泛性焦虑障碍量表（GAD-7）分别测量心理压力和焦虑。口腔健康状况通过自报的牙痛、牙龈出血和口腔溃疡来评估。采用多变量逻辑回归分析确定结果变量的潜在关联。采用结构方程模型（SEM）来确认心理和口腔健康状况之间的关系。
在 1770 名受试者中，39.2%表现出较高的心理压力，仅有 41.2%表示没有焦虑。心理压力、焦虑与口腔健康状况之间存在显著关联。焦虑对牙痛（OR=0.36；95%CI：0.23-0.55；p<0.01）、牙龈出血（OR=0.43；95%CI：0.29-0.65；p<0.01）和口腔溃疡（OR=0.54；95%CI：0.36-0.80；p<0.01）均有显著影响。焦虑显著中介了心理压力与自我报告口腔症状之间的关联。
焦虑可能是大学生心理健康的一个重要危险因素，并且与自我报告的口腔症状发生有显著关系。对疫情引起的学业和生活变化的担忧是压力的两个最主要来源。
