Satisfaction and stress levels of dentistry students relating to distance education.

Ertürk Avunduk, Ayşe Tuğba; Delikan, Ebru

BACKGROUND It is not known whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected dentistry education. OBJECTIVES This study aimed to determine the satisfaction and stress levels of dentistry students in Turkey regarding distance education during the COVID-19 pandemic, and to evaluate their opinions on this matter. MATERIAL AND METHODS This cross-sectional research study was conducted from October to November 2020 with the use of a web-based questionnaire consisting of 3 sections. The 1st section focused on demographic data. The 2nd section evaluated dentistry students' opinions regarding distance education during the pandemic; it comprised 8 multiple-choice questions and 1 open-ended question. The 3rd section referred to the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), which is intended to assess the stress levels. The data was subjected to the descriptive statistical analysis, the χ2 tests and the logistic regression analysis. RESULTS The sample consisted of 919 dentistry students, reflecting a response rate of 84%. Of the total sample, 81.6% of the participants were studying at state universities and more than half were female. These students' perceived stress levels were significantly increased due to the following factors: education at a state school; insufficient technical opportunities at home/dormitory facilities; decreased support from the academic staff of the universities during distance education; and a low level of knowledge of online document usage (p < 0.05). The evaluation of the responses to the open-ended question indicated that the difficulties encountered by highly stressed students during distance education were mostly adaptationrelated (p = 0.011). The logistic regression analysis showed that gender was significantly associated with high stress levels (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS The data showed that dentistry students preferred hybrid education and were unsatisfied with their experience with distance education.