Occupational stress and quality of sleep among dentists in the Philippines

ABSTRACT Background Occupational stress and sleep quality share a bidirectional relationship among other comorbidities. Dentistry remains among the health professions that suffer the greatest stress. Aim This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between occupational stress and sleep quality among dentists in the Philippines. Methods The Caregiver Self-Assessment Questionnaire assessed occupational stress and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index measured sleep quality in purposively sampled dentists (n=420) in the Philippines. Results The prevalence of occupational stress (19%) was low yet poor sleep quality (71%) was high. The global PSQI score (p=0.047) and sleep onset latency (p=0.036) were found to be associated with occupational stress. Conclusions This study supports the vast literature on the relationship between occupational stress and sleep quality, despite documenting an unexpected low prevalence of occupational stress in Filipino dentists. Further research on the coping mechanisms of these dentists is warranted.