Impact of COVID-19 Online Education on Mental Health of College Students

Background: COVID-19 is an infectious disease that is caused by a newly discovered coronavirus. This virus primarily spreads out through the droplets of saliva and SARS COV-2 virus was named after its unique shape, which has taken the form of a crown with the protrusions surrounding it. With the closure of all educational institutions, there is a need for a rapid transition from physical learning to digital learning. Online education has been observed as the best possible alternative to conventional learning. Lack of interaction and social isolation has really distressed the mental health of the students. The principal aim of this study is to study the impact of the COVID-19 online education on mental health of college students.

Materials & Methods: A questionnaire comprising 14 questions was created using an online Google forms website and was circulated among 131 dental students. This survey was conducted within a week in the months of Feb 2021. The results and observations were recorded in the form of pie charts and bar charts. SPSS software was used for statistical analysis. Chi square test was used for correlation and p<0.05 was considered significant.

Results: Male (48.3%) and female (51.7%) both were equally affected by mental health issues like stress and anxiety. 57% of them answered yes and 42.7% of them answered no, when they were questioned whether students understood the concepts or not with online education. 71.76% of the students felt stressed and the rest of them were not stressful. Among female students, 41.22% of them preferred offline education and only 12.21% of them preferred online education and males, about 29% of them preferred offline mode of education and only 17.5% of them preferred online mode of education and it was statistically significant (P<0.05).

Conclusion: Around 40% to 60% of the students have shown that they have experienced moderate to severe anxiety and stress levels during the COVID-19 lockdown period.