Burnout prevalence and correlates amongst Colombian dental students: the STRESSCODE study.

INTRODUCTION: Accumulating evidence amongst dental students indicates an alarming prevalence of stress, which can precipitate the development of burnout--a state of mental or physical exhaustion and disengagement. Understanding individual and educational correlates of burnout is necessary for its prevention. The aims of this study were to determine the prevalence of burnout amongst a large sample of Colombian dental undergraduates and investigate its psychosocial and educational correlates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Survey data collected from 5647 students participating in the Stress in Colombian Dental Education study were used for this analysis. Burnout was measured using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Student Survey (MBI-SS). Covariates included participants' socio-demographic characteristics and perceived stress, as well as educational environment factors. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate methods based on multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression modelling were used for data analysis. RESULTS: Seven per cent of the students surveyed met the criteria for burnout. The prevalence of burnout was higher amongst upper classes, older and married students, those who reported not having passed all required courses and not having dentistry as their first career choice, as well as students in public institutions and those with large class sizes. Moreover, students' perceived stress in the domains of workload and self-efficacy was significantly and positively associated with burnout. CONCLUSIONS: Both personal and educational environment characteristics were found to be associated with burnout. Irrespective of these factors, students' perceived stress with regard to workload and self-efficacy was a strong influence on burnout and its alleviation may be a promising avenue to prevent psychological morbidity.

Perceived sources of stress amongst Chilean and Argentinean dental students.

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of high levels of stress as well as its multilevel consequences is well documented amongst students in the health sciences, and particularly in dentistry. However, investigations of perceived stress amongst Spanish-speaking student groups are sparse. This study aimed to (i) describe the translation, adaptation and psychometric properties of a Spanish version of the Dental Environment Stressors questionnaire and (ii) to examine the perceived sources of stress and their associations with the students' study year and gender in two dental schools in Latin America. MATERIALS AND METHODS: All students officially registered in the dental schools of the University of San Sebastian (USS) in Chile and the Catholic University of Cordoba (CUC) in Argentina were invited to participate in the study. The DES30 questionnaire was adapted in Spanish using translation/back-translation, an expert bilingual committee, and consensus building. Cronbach's alpha was used to measure the instrument's internal consistency, and iterated principal factor analysis with promax rotation was employed to explore its underlying factor structure. Descriptive, bivariate and multivariate methods were used to examine the patterns of association between individual stressors, factor scores and students' characteristics. RESULTS: Three hundred and four students comprised the study's analytical sample, with two-thirds of those being female. The DES30-Sp demonstrated good internal consistency (Cronbach's α = 0.89). A four-factor solution emerged and included 'academic workload', 'clinical training', 'time constraints' and 'self-efficacy beliefs' factors. 'Fear of failing a course or a year', 'examinations and grades' and 'lack of time for relaxation' were amongst the top individual-item stressors reported by students in both schools. Amongst this group of undergraduate dental students, those in Argentina, in higher study year, and females reported higher perceived stress. CONCLUSIONS: Increased workload, time constraints and some aspects of clinical training were the top stressors of approximately 300 Chilean and Argentinean dental undergraduates. Some variations between schools, males and females and study years were noted. The Spanish version of the DES30 questionnaire performed well, but future studies should evaluate the instrument's properties in larger and more diverse dental student populations.