Perceived stressors of oral hygiene students in the dental environment

Abstract

Background. University students are exposed to a multitude of stressors that may impact on their performance. The nature of health sciences education generally involves early engagement with patients and communities, which may add to the stressors inherent to university life. There is sparse information on stressors in the oral hygiene educational environment. Objective. To determine perceived stressors and the level of burnout among oral hygiene students at the University of the Western Cape, Cape Town, South Africa. Method. A descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used. The study sample included all students in the Bachelor of Oral Health (BOH) degree during 2012 (N=89). A self-administered questionnaire was used to gather data. Three parameters were measured, i.e. (i) demographic characteristics; (ii) perceived sources of stress, using a modified Dental Environment Stress (DES) questionnaire; and (iii) burnout, using the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). Results. Respondents were mostly female (74%) and primarily in the 18 -25-year age group (92%). First-and 2nd-year students identified fear of failing and study load as major stressors. Stressors related to a lack of basic needs were identified as major stressors by 25% of 1st-year students. Third-year students identified clinical quotas, supervision and patients being late as major stressors. MBI scores indicated that students were not at risk for burnout; however, most students (66.2%) scored high on emotional exhaustion (EE). Conclusion. Oral hygiene students identified stressors in their learning environment. There was a progressive increase in EE across academic years. The results suggest that interventions should be tailored for specific academic year groups.

Perceived stress and well‐being in UK and Australian dental hygiene and dental therapy students

“…[1][2][3][4][5][6] Living accommodation and personal factors were not particularly stressful DES domains for either the UK or Australian DHDTS, and were similar to a previous UK study. 7 This present study also showed a trend that both UK and Australian DHDTS perceived the which is in contrast to the recent SA study of perceived stress in DHDTS, 9 which showed that third-year students reported individual clinical factors, and not academic factors, as their top sources of stress. However, we must show caution in direct comparisons with this study, as the SA researchers modified the DES from a 5-point scale which was used in the current study, to a 3-point scale, which has less range.…”

“…Although the domain of the educational environment, which included items such as criticism about academic or clinical work, approachability of staff and expectation vs reality of dental school, was not perceived as stressful to the UK DHDTS, it was, however, significantly higher ( P < .002) for the Australian DHDTS. In particular, both years 2 and years 3 Australian DHDTS reported criticism about academic or clinical work as a high source of stress (which was similar to that reported by DHDTS in the SA study), with approachability of staff an additional high source of stress to the year 3 students (Table ). These were also the same sources of stress reported by third‐year dental students in a recent Australian study .…”

“…In particular, both years 2 and years 3 Australian DHDTS reported criticism about academic or clinical work as a high source of stress (which was similar to that reported by DHDTS in the SA study 9 ), with approachability of staff an additional high source of stress to the year 3 students ( Table 6). These were also the same sources of stress reported by third-year dental students in a recent Australian study.…”

“…Studies have shown that the dental school undergraduate environment is a highly demanding and stressful learning experience for a number of students, potentially leading to burnout and affecting academic performance [1][2][3][4][5][6] Three recent studies which examined stress and well-being amongst dental hygiene and dental therapy students (DHDTS) in the United Kingdom (UK) and in South Africa (SA), [7][8][9] showed that DHDTS-perceived sources of stress within their undergraduate programme were comparable to reported findings amongst dental students. 10,11 In the first of these studies, 7 valid and reliable measures of well-being [12][13][14] in conjunction with the widely used Dental Environment Stress questionnaire (DES) 15 were used to explore dimensions of well-being, as well as stress.…”

Stress and well-being in dental hygiene and dental therapy students

“…[2][3][4] However, there are gaps in the literature when it comes to exploring stress among other members of the dental team, for example dental hygiene and dental therapy students (DHDTS), who are educated in a similar environment to dental undergraduate students. 5 Most studies exploring dental student stress have equated psychological well-being with the presence or absence of stress, or psychological disorders such as depression. [6][7][8] However, studies have also shown that there are multiple dimensions which contribute to a sense of positive psychological wellbeing.…”