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Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is challenging the dental community to an unprecedented degree. Knowledge of the increased risk of infection in dental settings has been disseminated to the public and guidelines have been form...

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Autores principales: Wen, Yi Feng, Fang, Peng, Peng, Jia-xi, Wu, Shengjun, Liu, Xufeng, Dong, Qian Qian
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8187600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34122203
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.555613
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author Wen, Yi Feng
Fang, Peng
Peng, Jia-xi
Wu, Shengjun
Liu, Xufeng
Dong, Qian Qian
author_facet Wen, Yi Feng
Fang, Peng
Peng, Jia-xi
Wu, Shengjun
Liu, Xufeng
Dong, Qian Qian
author_sort Wen, Yi Feng
collection PubMed
description The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is challenging the dental community to an unprecedented degree. Knowledge of the increased risk of infection in dental settings has been disseminated to the public and guidelines have been formulated to assist dental attendance decision-making. However, dental attendance behaviors incompatible with treatment need is not uncommon in clinical settings. Important gaps remain in the knowledge about how psychological factors are affecting dental attendance behaviors during the COVID-19 epidemic. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire survey was performed during February and March 2020. A total of 342 and 294 dental patients who attended and avoided dental visits, respectively, were included. The participants were classified into four groups based on dental attendance behavior and emergent/urgent dental treatment need. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate factors associated with dental attendance. Multivariable logistic regression based on principal component scores was performed to identify major psychological constructs associated with unnecessary dental avoidance and attendance. Among all the factors explored, inability to wear masks during dental treatment (P < 0.001; effect size: 0.32) was most closely associated with the overall pattern of dental attendance among participants. Multivariable regression suggested that unnecessary dental avoidance was associated with perceived risk of infection in general and in dental settings (odds ratio [95% CI]: 0.62 [0.53, 0.72]; p < 0.001), perceived impact of COVID-19 and dental problems on general health (0.79 [0.65, 0.97]; 0.021), and personal traits such as trust and anxiety (0.77 [0.61, 0.98]; 0.038). Unnecessary dental attendance was associated with optimism toward the epidemic (1.68 [1.42, 2.01]; <0.001) and trust (1.39 [1.13, 1.74]; 0.002). Multidisciplinary efforts involving dental and medical professionals as well as psychologists are warranted to promote more widespread adoption, among the general public, of dental attendance behaviors compatible with dental treatment need during the COVID-19 epidemic.
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spelling pubmed-81876002021-06-10 Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic Wen, Yi Feng Fang, Peng Peng, Jia-xi Wu, Shengjun Liu, Xufeng Dong, Qian Qian Front Psychol Psychology The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is challenging the dental community to an unprecedented degree. Knowledge of the increased risk of infection in dental settings has been disseminated to the public and guidelines have been formulated to assist dental attendance decision-making. However, dental attendance behaviors incompatible with treatment need is not uncommon in clinical settings. Important gaps remain in the knowledge about how psychological factors are affecting dental attendance behaviors during the COVID-19 epidemic. In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire survey was performed during February and March 2020. A total of 342 and 294 dental patients who attended and avoided dental visits, respectively, were included. The participants were classified into four groups based on dental attendance behavior and emergent/urgent dental treatment need. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate factors associated with dental attendance. Multivariable logistic regression based on principal component scores was performed to identify major psychological constructs associated with unnecessary dental avoidance and attendance. Among all the factors explored, inability to wear masks during dental treatment (P < 0.001; effect size: 0.32) was most closely associated with the overall pattern of dental attendance among participants. Multivariable regression suggested that unnecessary dental avoidance was associated with perceived risk of infection in general and in dental settings (odds ratio [95% CI]: 0.62 [0.53, 0.72]; p < 0.001), perceived impact of COVID-19 and dental problems on general health (0.79 [0.65, 0.97]; 0.021), and personal traits such as trust and anxiety (0.77 [0.61, 0.98]; 0.038). Unnecessary dental attendance was associated with optimism toward the epidemic (1.68 [1.42, 2.01]; <0.001) and trust (1.39 [1.13, 1.74]; 0.002). Multidisciplinary efforts involving dental and medical professionals as well as psychologists are warranted to promote more widespread adoption, among the general public, of dental attendance behaviors compatible with dental treatment need during the COVID-19 epidemic. Frontiers Media S.A. 2021-05-26 /pmc/articles/PMC8187600/ /pubmed/34122203 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.555613 Text en Copyright © 2021 Wen, Fang, Peng, Wu, Liu and Dong. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychology
Wen, Yi Feng
Fang, Peng
Peng, Jia-xi
Wu, Shengjun
Liu, Xufeng
Dong, Qian Qian
Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic
title Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic
title_full Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic
title_fullStr Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic
title_full_unstemmed Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic
title_short Differential Psychological Factors Associated With Unnecessary Dental Avoidance and Attendance Behavior During the Early COVID-19 Epidemic
title_sort differential psychological factors associated with unnecessary dental avoidance and attendance behavior during the early covid-19 epidemic
topic Psychology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8187600/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34122203
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.555613
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