PMID- 33941194
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20210514
LR  - 20210514
IS  - 1472-6963 (Electronic)
IS  - 1472-6963 (Linking)
VI  - 21
IP  - 1
DP  - 2021 May 3
TI  - Psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental health personnel in 
      Norway.
PG  - 420
LID - 10.1186/s12913-021-06443-y [doi]
LID - 420
AB  - BACKGROUND: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic put a pressure on all healthcare 
      professionals and has affected the delivery of health care services globally. 
      There is a need to understand the impact on different health care professionals 
      in different countries. The aim of the present study was to explore the 
      psychological impact of the pandemic among dental staff in Norway in relation to 
      background characteristics, work situation and preparedness of the service. 
      METHODS: A structured questionnaire sent electronically to dentists, dental 
      hygienists and dental assistants inquired information about the lockdown period 
      in Norway (13 March-17 April 2020). Distributions of background characteristics, 
      perceptions of preparedness and psychological impact were calculated. Exploratory 
      factor analysis was performed, and Structural Equation Models (SEMs) were used to 
      compare psychological impact between dental professionals treating patients 
      versus not during lockdown. RESULTS: Among the 1237 respondents, 58.8% worked 
      clinically with patients. The majority were concerned of becoming infected 
      (71.9%), of infecting others (85.4%) and/or of their family becoming infected 
      (76.9%). Respondents who treated patients felt significantly more insecure about 
      whether having become infected or not. The minority felt discriminated (6.7%), 
      worried about death (11.7%), felt that life was threatening (9.8%) or felt loss 
      of control of their lives (8.9%). More than 80% agreed that their workplace 
      handled the situation well. Four factors were retrieved from the factor analysis. 
      SEMs showed that gender and work experience had a significant effect on the 
      factors Instability, Infection and Concerns. Respondents with work experience 
      >/=10 years were less likely to express fear about Instability and Infection. 
      Personnel reporting that their workplace had adequate equipment were also less 
      concerned, however having adequate equipment did not reduce the factor Loss of 
      control. CONCLUSION: The present study showed a considerable psychological impact 
      of the COVID-19 pandemic on dental personnel in Norway regardless of working 
      clinically with patients or not. However, working with patients increased the 
      insecurity about own infection status and of infecting people close to them. A 
      safe working environment and adequate infection control measures are associated 
      with less fear of infection and feeling of instability.
FAU - Uhlen, M M
AU  - Uhlen MM
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway. 
      martemariu@viken.no.
FAU - Ansteinsson, V E
AU  - Ansteinsson VE
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
FAU - Stangvaltaite-Mouhat, L
AU  - Stangvaltaite-Mouhat L
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
AD  - Department of Clinical Dentistry, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT - The Arctic 
      University of Norway, Tromso, Norway.
FAU - Korzeniewska, L
AU  - Korzeniewska L
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
FAU - Skudutyte-Rysstad, R
AU  - Skudutyte-Rysstad R
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
FAU - Shabestari, M
AU  - Shabestari M
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
FAU - Mdala, I
AU  - Mdala I
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
AD  - General Practice Research Unit, Department of General Practice, Institute of 
      Health and Society, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway.
FAU - Hovden, E A S
AU  - Hovden EAS
AD  - Oral Health Centre of Expertise in Eastern Norway (OHCE-E), Oslo, Norway.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20210503
PL  - England
TA  - BMC Health Serv Res
JT  - BMC health services research
JID - 101088677
SB  - IM
MH  - *COVID-19
MH  - Communicable Disease Control
MH  - Cross-Sectional Studies
MH  - Health Personnel
MH  - Humans
MH  - Norway/epidemiology
MH  - *Pandemics
MH  - SARS-CoV-2
MH  - Surveys and Questionnaires
PMC - PMC8092364
COIS- The authors declare that they have no competing interests. The authors alone are 
      responsible for the content and writing of the paper.
EDAT- 2021/05/05 06:00
MHDA- 2021/05/15 06:00
PMCR- 2021/05/03
CRDT- 2021/05/04 05:52
PHST- 2021/01/20 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2021/04/22 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2021/05/04 05:52 [entrez]
PHST- 2021/05/05 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2021/05/15 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2021/05/03 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 10.1186/s12913-021-06443-y [pii]
AID - 6443 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/s12913-021-06443-y [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - BMC Health Serv Res. 2021 May 3;21(1):420. doi: 10.1186/s12913-021-06443-y.