Influencia del aislamiento a causa del COVID – 19 sobre el estrés y bienestar en estudiantes de odontología de Latinoamérica.

Abstract

Aim: To establish the influence of isolation on the perception of stress and well-being of dental students from Latin American countries. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on a sample of 727 undergraduate dentistry students in different Latin American countries selected through convenience sampling. The moderating variables were grouped into three sections: sociodemographic, health and related to COVID-19. For this correlation with the depend variables, the following were used: The Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-14) and the modified WHO Subjective Well-being Scale. Data were collected using descriptive statistics in the SPSS v24.0 program and analyzed according to five multivariate regression models. Results: The variables that were shown to have a greater influence on stress levels were: sex, women reported higher levels of stress (p<0.05); the increase in work responsibilities, being that when you are not increasing stress decreased (p<0.01); it was also observed that, as economic income is not reduced, the level of stress decreases (p<0.001). There was a decrease in the consumption of cigarettes, alcohol, coffee and psychotropic substances, but those who reported increasing their intake also had higher stress levels. Ignorance and non-execution of preventive measures were factors that positively affected perceived stress levels. Conclusions: There is a clear relationship between the measures of confinement and the increase in stress levels, as well as the decrease in well-being in the population studied during the period in which this research was carried out.