Impacto da pandemia de COVID-19 nas atividades acadêmicas de professores e alunos de pós-graduação em odontologia no Brasil

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered adversity for education, also affecting teachers and students of Post-graduate Dental Programs who suffered from the suspension of face-to-face activities as a result of public health measures. Consequently, research was paralyzed and academic activities began to be carried out remotely, causing students and teachers to change their routine and reconcile childcare and domestic activities with academic activities. Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate, through the application of an online questionnaire, the effect of social distancing caused by COVID-19 on the activities and academic productivity of professors and students of Stricto sensu Post-graduate Dental Programs in Brazil. This study is a segment of a larger study that evaluated the self-report of Post-graduate Dentistry students and professors about depression, stress and anxiety caused by social distancing during the pandemic (data not yet published), through a questionnaire designed on Google Forms® and consisting of 42 questions, being disseminated on Instagram®, WhatsApp® and by email. The sample size calculation was performed, requiring 297 volunteers for the research. In the present study, 18 questions were addressed involving topics such as sociodemographic characteristics (6 questions), circumstances during the COVID-19 pandemic (3 questions) and academic circumstances (9 questions). The questionnaire was answered by 617 volunteers: 314 students and 294 teachers. The collected data were tabulated in an excel spreadsheet and tables were created for their descriptive analysis. According to the results, most teachers and students responded that they performed more tasks at home in the period of social isolation than they did before the pandemic; and most teachers reported that they did not have help at home to take care of their children. In addition, in the period of the pandemic evaluated, teachers published more scientific articles when compared to their students. It was reported that there was a loss in the conduct of funded projects, due to the stoppage of research activities due to the social isolation caused by COVID19. Thus, it appears that the social isolation caused by the pandemic negatively affected the household chores of professors and students of Post-graduate Dental Programs in Brazil, as well as interfered with the academic activities of professors.11 However, most students and professors reported that they did not think about leaving the program.