Quality of life and post-traumatic stress in dentists after the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic may alter the perception of certain components of health-related quality of life, which may increase symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Objective: To determine the association between health-related quality of life and the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder in dentists following the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Cross-sectional study, carried out in a region of Peru, from August to December 2022. Four hundred and twenty-four dentists participated, answering a questionnaire with socio-labor and health variables; post-traumatic stress disorder was measured with the COVID-19-PTSD questionnaire and health-related quality of life with the EuroQol-5D scale. A descriptive and multivariate analysis was performed using Poisson family generalized linear models to evaluate the association between the variables. Results: Of the participants, 24.8 % presented post-traumatic stress disorder. In health-related quality of life, 26.9 % revealed problems related to anxiety/depression; 20.8 % pain/discomfort; 9.2 % daily activity; 6.6 % mobility and 2.6 % personal care. Affected daily activity and the presence of anxiety/depression were associated with higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (p< 0.000). Conclusions: High prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder and altered quality of life in its dimensions were found. Affected daily activity and the presence of anxiety/depression increase the likelihood of developing.