AUTHOR=Zhu Junfei , Li Wenjing , Wei Fang , Zhang Dan , Wang Meng , Zhang Huiyun , Zhang Ye 

TITLE=Influence of experiencing SARS-CoV-2 infection on anxiety levels in Chinese patients undergoing third molar surgery

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Psychology

VOLUME=Volume 15 - 2024

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1307776

DOI=10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1307776

ISSN=1664-1078

ABSTRACT=Background: In China, most of the citizens experienced SARS-CoV-2 infection since the end of 2022. The Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected people's physical health and also had a significant impact on mental well-being. The present study aims to discover if the experience of SARS-CoV-2 infection influences patients' anxiety toward third molar surgery in the Chinese population.The present study took the form of a questionnaire survey. From January 1, 2023, to June 30, 2023, patients who went to the Stomatology Center of China-Japan Friendship Hospital (Beijing, China) for the third molar extraction were included according to the inclusion criteria. The information on COVID-19 infection and the Modified Dental Anxiety Scale (MDAS) was collected. The software SPSS 22.0 was used for the statistical analyses.Results: A total of 574 survey results were harvested in the present study. The infection rate of Covid-19 was 86.6% (P>0.05). The Average MDAS scores between patients who had been infected with COVID-19 and patients who were never infected were not significantly different(11.65±4.41 vs 11.42 ±4.41, P>0.05). The subgroup analysis was conducted according to the length of time after the recovery of Covid-19 (Model 1), and the highest temperature during the infection (Model 2). In Model 1 and Model 2, the one-way ANOVA test did not find statistical significance between the groups (Model 1 P=0.114; Model 2 P=0.481 ). The MDAS scores in female patients were significantly higher than in male patients (12.29±4.53 vs 9.91 ±3.80, P<0.001). Patients who extracted double teeth got significantly higher MDAS scores than those who extracted single teeth before the surgery (12.03±4.74 vs 11.24 ±4.18, P=0.037).The present study did not establish a significant impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the anxiety levels associated with third molar surgery among Chinese patients. The potential long-term biopsychological effects of the virus warrant further investigation.