During the current pandemic, Pakistan is badly affected. It has exerted great pressure on vigor as well as the psychology of the healthcare professionals. Limited resources, illiteracy, myths, and not following the proper protocol by the general population may have increased the risk for everyone, and anxiety and fear among the frontline healthcare professionals. Anxiety is a common response to any stressful situation and its the fear of the unknown and it may have multiple consequences.In the current study, we attempted to analyze the fear and anxiety among the healthcare professionals of Pakistan.Methodology: An online questionnaire-based survey was performed using a non-probability snowball sampling technique. The questionnaire was validated and comprised of demographics and 10 questions regarding fear and anxiety as per fear of coronavirus-19 scale (FCV-19S). SPSS 21 was used for data analysis.Data of 404 participants analyzed. A significant difference between gender, age group, and the profession was found (p<0.05). Out of 404 participants, 322 (79.70%) were considered to have high and severe anxiety (p=0.020). Based on the results anxiety was reported higher among the nurses and in females. A significant relationship was observed between fear and anxiety score and the different healthcare professionals with p value< 0.001 (Multilinear regression).Concerning the high occurrence of anxiety and fear among healthcare professionals appropriate psychological/psychiatric intervention necessitates and emphasizes the need to implement urgent measures.

Background: Since the emergence of the novel coronavirus, the front line soldiers during this pandemic are the healthcare professionals because of their direct association with COVID19 patients. In the management of such patients, nurses play a significant role through proper care and preventive measures. Due to its contagious nature, fatality, and no proper medicine, it is a risk to the health and life of nurses and has an impact on their psychological health. The aim of the current study was to assess the knowledge, attitude, practices, and anxiety levels of the frontline nurses. Methods: It was an online questionnaire-based cross-sectional survey targeting only those nurses involved in the management of COVID-19 patients from different hospitals of Karachi, Pakistan. SPSS 21 was used for data analysis. Descriptive analysis, Chi-Square, and t-tests were applied. P-value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: Data of 78 nurses were analyzed. We observed that nurses possess good knowledge about COVID-19, its sources, symptoms, and routes of transmission of the Virus, etc. The knowledge mean score was calculated at 14.67 ± 3.36. Health Department /Hospital and social media are the main sources of information regarding COVID-19. We investigated that 92.3% of the nurses had mild to severe anxiety and anxiety levels are significantly higher among females (P<0.05). Conclusion:-We concluded that the nurses performing their duties with COVID-19 positive patients have good knowledge and attitude. But their anxiety levels are high. Psychological interventions along with training should be given.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to evaluate the level of anxiety and fear among Pakistani dentists due to COVID-19. METHODOLOGY: Data of 386 dentists evaluated who responded to the questionnaire sent via social media. Fear of coronavirus scale (FCV-19S) was used for evaluation of fear among Pakistani dentists. Data was entered and analyzed using SPSS version 21. One way ANOVA, chi-square and independent t-test were used for statistical analysis. P-value <0.05 was considered as significant. RESULTS: The overall mean FCV-19S score was 26.22 ± 4.907, which is on the higher end. Females showed higher fear scores as compared to males (p<0.001). A statistically significant difference between the scores of General Dental Practitioners (GDP) and specialists was also observed (p<0.001), Statistically, a significant difference was observed between all 4 age groups of dentists, young and elderly dentists demonstrating higher scores (F (3,382) = 8.618, p< 0.001). CONCLUSION: We conclude that due to the current COVID-19 crisis, majority of the dentists of Pakistan are afraid and among them, females, GDPs, young and elderly dentists are found to be more anxious and have a greater fear of getting infected by coronavirus during COVID 19 Pandemic. KEYWORDS: Anxiety, Fear, Pakistani, Dentist, COVID-19 HOW TO CITE: Majeed MM, Saleem Z, Sarwar H, Ramzan Z, Iqbal SN, Naeem MM. The psychology of coronavirus fear: Are dentists of pakistan suffering from corona-phobia?. J Pak Dent Assoc 2021;30(1):1-6.

Objectives The present study aimed to investigate osteocalcin levels in saliva of healthy and periodontitis patients and correlate these levels with periodontitis severity. Materials and Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted in a hospital setup. A total of 95 individuals participated in the study with 46 subjects in group I (healthy individuals) and 49 subjects in group II (mild, moderate, and severe chronic periodontitis patients). A detailed assessment of clinical periodontal parameters and alveolar bone loss was made. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from all study subjects and osteocalcin levels were quantitatively analyzed by sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent essay technique. Statistical Analysis One-way analysis of variance, Spearman’s correlation test, and Pearson’s chi-squared test were applied at a significance level of 95%. p-Values less than 0.05 were considered statistically significant. Results The results showed a significant association of qualification with group II (p < 0.02). Bone loss scores were also significantly associated with periodontitis severity (p < 0.01). However, no statistically significant difference was observed between group I and group II in terms of mean salivary osteocalcin levels (p = 0.68). Also, an insignificant correlation was also observed between osteocalcin levels and periodontitis severity (p = 0.13). Conclusion The overall study results showed that there was no significant difference between saliva osteocalcin levels of healthy and periodontitis patients. Also, there was a nonsignificant correlation between osteocalcin levels and periodontitis severity. The findings of the present study support the hypothesis that low osteocalcin levels in saliva might be considered as a poor indicator of periodontal disease progression and severity.

Background Oral squamous cell carcinoma is a global threat and accounts for approximately 90% of malignant oral lesions. The emergence of oral carcinoma is linked to precancerous lesions, which act as precursors of the disease. Matrix metalloproteinases appear to play a significant role in the pathogenesis of both precancerous conditions and oral malignancies due to their participation in remodeling of the extracellular matrix. Methodology This is an analytical study conducted at Dow University of Health Sciences, Pakistan. Unstimulated saliva samples were collected from healthy, oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma patients. The level of MMP-12 was estimated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. One-way Analysis of variance was run to determine if MMP-12 levels differ between the three groups, which was preceded by post hoc Tuckey test. MMP-12 cut off values were determined using Receiver operating characteristic curve. Results A significant difference in salivary MMP-12 expression was observed in OSF and OSCC (p < 0.001). The expression of salivary MMP-12 was higher in OSF and OSCC patients as compared to the healthy group (p < 0.001). The mean MMP-12 expression in OSCC appeared higher than in OSF cases (p < 0.05). MMP-12 value of $$\ge$$ ≥ 4.05 ng/ml and $$\ge$$ ≥ 4.20 ng/ml is predictive of OSF and OSCC respectively, with 100% sensitivity and specificity (p < 0.001). Conclusion Increased expression of MMP-12 appears as the healthy patient advances to OSF and OSCC. The study results also demonstrate higher MMP-12 expression in OSCC patients as compared to OSF. Therefore, the estimation of salivary MMP-12 serves as a valuable non-invasive early diagnostic tool in diagnosing oral submucous fibrosis and oral squamous cell carcinoma.