Badanie poziomu lęku i depresji wśród lekarzy dentystów z terenu województwa śląskiego na podstawie skali HADS.

Introduction: Dental profession is extremely stressful, as it relies heavily on medical procedures with immediate effect and evaluation both by the patient and the dentist. In addition, management of patients’ anxiety and pain is also a significant psychological burden for dentists. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence and importance of anxiety and depression among dentists living in Silesia (Poland). Material and methods: The study group consisted of 59 Silesian dentists. The tool applied was the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). As part of the statistical analysis, the reliability of the anxiety (HADS A) and depression (HADS D) scales was assessed using the α-Cronbach coefficient. The non-parametric Mann-Whitney test was also utilized to compare the above-mentioned scales with subgroups distinguished on the basis of adopted criteria. Results: The values of the α-Cronbach coefficient indicated high reliability of the scales used. The HADS scale revealed anxiety disorders in 25.5% of examined Silesian dentists and depression disorders in 18.6% of the respondents. The mean value and standard deviation for HADS-A and HADS-D were 8.7 (4.1) and 6.1 (3.7) respectively. The level of anxiety and depression did not depend on the gender of the respondents. In addition, good somatic health, having a specialization, and having more than one workplace have been shown to be associated with a lower risk of these disorders. In turn, serious stressful situations in the last 3-year increased the risk of anxiety disorders. Conclusions: Presented results indicate the need for further extensive research on the mental health of Polish dentists and the preparation and implementation of methods for the prevention of anxiety and depressive disorders in this professional group. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]