Fear of COVID-19 in Madrid. Will patients avoid dental care?

Introduction: The objective of this research is to describe how perceived infectability, germ aversion, and fear of COVID-19 in adults in Madrid have changed from the beginning of the pandemic until the lockdown exit phase and their influence on dental care behaviour. Materials and Methods: Some 961 participants were monitored in a study in Madrid at 2 time points: before lockdown (T0) and after completion of the total lockdown (T1). A questionnaire that included basic sociodemographic variables, the perceived vulnerability to disease scale (including perceived infectability and germ aversion), the fear of COVID-19 scale, and dental visiting behaviour after confinement for fear of COVID was administered. Results: The participants had higher scores for infectability and germ aversion at T1 than at T0 (P < 0.01). Of those studied, 24.5% (235) of the participants would not go to the dentist for fear of COVID-19. Those who had a high perceived infectability scale score were at least 5 times more likely to not visit the dentist. Those with high COVID-19 fear were at least 6 times more likely to not visit the dentist, and those older than 60 years were 8 times more likely to not visit. Conclusions: The population's high levels of vulnerability to infectability and perceived germ aversion associated with fear of COVID-19 and the resultant avoidance behaviour to dental care will remain until an effective drug or vaccine for SARS-CoV2 is found. (c) 2021 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of FDI World Dental Federation.

Automated summary

This research aims to describe the changes in perceived infectability, germ aversion, and fear of COVID-19 in adults in Madrid from the beginning of the pandemic to the lockdown exit phase, and their impact on dental care behavior. The study found that participants had higher scores for infectability and germ aversion after the total lockdown. A significant proportion of participants avoided dental visits due to fear of COVID-19. High levels of perceived infectability and fear of COVID-19 were associated with a greater likelihood of avoiding dental care.