DENTAL ENVIRONMENT STRESS, BURNOUT AND PERCEIVED HEALTH STATUS AMONG DENTAL STUDENTS

Objective: To assess the stress, burnout and health status of dental students and establish the correlation between these entities. Methods: A total of 382 consenting dental students (III year & IV year undergraduate students, interns and the post graduate students) at Jaipur Dental College and Hospital, Jaipur participated in the study. They completed a Performa consisting of three components: The Modified Dental Environment Stress Questionnaire (DES), Maslach Burnout Inventory?General Survey (MBI-GS), and Short form 12 (SF -12) Health survey Questionnaire. Results: 95.6 % of the participants responded. There were significant differences in the year of the study for DES mean scores, MBI-GS total scores (P= 0.003 and p & lt; 0.001) and health status. The perception of stress is also influenced by gender, as females are more stressed then males. Conclusion: One side relation of stress and burnout and a reciprocal relationship of stress and burnout with health have been well understood by the study, but a causal relationship cannot be explained. Psychological stress and burnout in early years of profession are also predictive of occupational stress later.