In the Third Year of the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Worry of Applying to the Prosthodontics Clinic or Transmitting COVID-19 to Relatives Can Cause Anxiety/Depression and Not Being Able to Wear a Mask During Treatment Can Also Cause Anxiety

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the anxiety and depression levels and the factors affecting them in the patients who applied to the Prosthodontics Clinic during the end of the pandemic process with the ‘Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)’.

Methods: To determine the symptoms of anxiety and depression, probable cause questions and the “Turkish version of the HADS” were applied to the volunteers who applied to the Prosthodontics Clinic. In the study, independent groups t- and one-way ANOVA tests were used to compare the data according to the groups, the Chi-square test was used for the relationships between group variables, and logistic regression analysis was used to determine the factors affecting anxiety and depression.

Results: A total of 194 volunteers (96 male, 98 female) were included in the study. Of the participants, anxiety was detected in 42.3%, depression was detected in 58.8%, and the HADS average was measured as 15.97 ± 7.66. In the depression score classification, the difference between the depression scores of nonsmoking participants (7.8 ± 4.03) and smokers (9.07 ± 3.36) was found to be statistically significant (p = 0.036). Applying to the prosthodontics clinic during the period when pandemic measures were reduced (OR = 2.158) and the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 to relatives (OR = 1.816), and removing the mask during examination and treatment (OR = 2.245) were factors that increased the risk of anxiety. Applying to the prosthodontics clinic (OR = 2.757), the possibility of transmitting COVID-19 to relatives (OR = 1.653) were factors that increased the risk of depression in participants.

Conclusion: In the third year of the pandemic, we can assume that patients who have not had COVID-19 and were smokers who applied to the prosthodontics clinic are more prone to depression. Also, it can be said that application to the prosthodontics clinic during this period and the worrying about transmitting COVID-19 to relatives are both anxiety and depression-increasing factors. Removing the mask during examination and treatment is an anxiety-increasing factor.