MEDO DE COVID-19 E FATORES ASSOCIADOS AO POSSÍVEL BRUXISMO DO SONO E/OU EM VIGÍLIA ENTRE UNIVERSITÁRIOS DA REGIÃO SUDESTE DO BRASIL DURANTE A PANDEMIA COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: The possible bruxism is a self-reported behavior characterized by grinding and/or clenching teeth and is associated with psychological factors. The COVID-19 pandemic has affected people’s emotions and can be associated with this behavior. Objective: Analyze the association between level of fear of COVID-19, as well as other factors associated to the prevalence of possible bruxism among university students.
Materials and methods: A total of 311 undergraduate and graduate students from public and private dental schools in Southeastern Brazil participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants were contacted via WhatsApp and social networks through snowball sampling to answer an online questionnaire with sociodemographic assessment, presence, frequency and severity of possible sleep bruxism (PSB) and/or awake bruxism (PAB) and Brazilian version of the fear scale of COVID-19. Descriptive and bivariate analyzes were performed using the Mann-Whitney and Kruskall-Wallis statistical tests (p<0.05). Results: The prevalence of severe PSB was 12.5% and PAB 23.8%. There was no association between COVID-19 fear scores or with PSB (p=0.342) or with PAB (p=0.912). When analyzing the PAB, there was a higher prevalence among participants who didn’t work (p=0.008), with a higher percentage among university students in the second half of the course (p=0.021). Among graduate participants, possible bruxism was more prevalent among students enrolled in stricto sensu programs compared to those in lato sensu programs (p=0.036). There wasn’t association between COVID-19 fear score and possible bruxism. Conclusion: Being out of the job market, final stage of graduation and entry into a stricto sensu graduate program influenced the prevalence of PAB.