Anxiety level and COVID-19 awareness of patients in a non-COVID-19 outpatient clinic of a pandemic hospital

Year 2022, , 192 - 198, 30.08.2022

Feyza Yıldız Aytekin , Emine Ela Küçük , Kürşad Aytekin , Selçuk Takır

https://doi.org/10.26650/IstanbulJPharm.2022.1032569

Abstract

Background and Aims: The aim of this study is to investigate the COVID-19 awareness and anxiety levels of patients who visited the outpatient department in a hospital.
Methods: A questionnaire for socio-demographic data and COVID-19 awareness, Beck Anxiety Scale (BAS), and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) data were collected from patients who volunteered to participate in the study. Counts, percentages, independent groups t-test, and correlation analysis were used during statistical data analysis. Those patients who were over 18 years of age, literate, having no psychiatric disorder and from whom informed consent was obtained were included in the study. Patients younger than 18 years of age, patients who had psychiatric disorders, and illiterate patients were excluded.
Results: The questionnaire form and scales were distributed to 254 patients, while 210 patients were included in the study. Therefore, the response rate from the patients was 82.7%. The mean age of the patients participating in this study was 44.41 years ±16.9 SD. The BAS scores of patients over 65 years of age were significantly higher than the patients at younger ages (p<0.001). The percentage of female patients was 42.6% (n=89) and that of males was 57.4% (n=120). Both the BAS scores (p<0.001) and HADS scores (p<0.01) of the female patients were significantly higher than those of the male patients.
Conclusion: The BAS and HADS scores of females were found to be significantly higher than those of the males. Although the mean of the BAS scores of the patients was low, the BAS scores of those women who were at an age of 65 years or above, and those who had secondary school education or below, were significantly higher. Therefore, related research focusing on these groups should be conducted in the future.

Keywords

COVID-19, Awareness, Beck anxiety scale, Hospital anxiety and depression scale

Supporting Institution

-

Project Number

-

References

• Alsaif, B., Elhassan, N. E. E., Itumalla, R., Ali, K. E., & Alzain, M. A. (2021). Assessing the level of awareness of covid-19 and preva- lence of general anxiety disorder among the hail community, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(13), 7035.
• Argüder, E., Kılıç, H., Civak, M., Kacar, D., Kay, G., Yılmaz, A. … Kara- lezli, A. (2020). Anxiety and depression levels in hospitalized pa- tients due to Covid-19 infection. Ankara Medical Journal, 20(4), 971–981. http://dx.doi.org/10.5505/amj.2020.80775.
• Aydemir, Ö., Güvenir, T., Küey, L., & Kültür, S. (1997). Hastane anksiyete ve depresyon ölçeği Türkçe formunun geçerlilik ve güvenilirliği [Reliability and validity of the Turkish version of Hos- pital Anxiety and Depression Scale]. Türk Psikiyatri Dergisi, 8(4), 280–287.
• Beck, A. T., Epstein, N., Brown, G., & Steer, R. A. (1988). An inventory for measuring clinical anxiety: Psychometric properties. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56(6), 893–897.
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, November 29). How to protect yourself & others. Retrieved from https://www. cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/prevent-getting-sick/preven- tion.html
• European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control. (2020, No- vember 6). Infection prevention and control and preparedness for COVID-19 in healthcare settings. Retrieved from https://www.ecdc. europa.eu/sites/default/files/documents/Infection-prevention- and-control-in-healthcare-settings-COVID-19_5th_update.pdf
• Fagherazzi, G., Goetzinger, C., Rashid, M. A., Aguayo, G. A., & Huiart, L. (2020). Digital health strategies to fight COVID-19 worldwide: Challenges, recommendations, and a call for papers. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(6), e19284.
• Gesser-Edelsburg, A., Cohen, R., Hijazi, R., & Abed Elhadi Shahbari,
• N. (2020). Analysis of public perception of the Israeli Govern- ment’s early emergency instructions regarding COVID-19: Online survey study. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(5), e19370.
• Golinelli, D., Boetto, E., Carullo, G., Nuzzolese, A. G., Landini, M. P., & Fantini, M. P. (2020). Adoption of digital technologies in health care during the Covid-19 pandemic: Systematic review of early scientific literature. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 22(11), e22280.
• Hyland, P., Shevlin, M., McBride, O., Murphy, J., Karatzias, T., Bentall,
• R. P. … Vallières, F. (2020). Anxiety and depression in the Republic of Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic. Acta Psychiatrica Scan- dinavica, 142(3), 249–256.
• Kickbusch, I., Pelikan, J. M., Apfel, F., & Tsouros, A. D. (Eds.). (2013). Health literacy: The solid facts. World Health Organization.
• Koley, T. K., & Dhole, M. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic: The deadly coronavirus outbreak. Taylor & Francis.
• Özdin, S., & Bayrak Özdin, Ş. (2020). Levels and predictors of anxi- ety, depression and health anxiety during COVID-19 pandemic in Turkish society: The importance of gender. International Journal of Social Psychiatry, 66(5), 504-511.
• Ulusoy, M., Şahin, N., & Erkmen, H. (1998). Turkish version of beck anxiety inventory: Psychometric properties. Journal of Cognitive Psychotherapy: An international Quaterly, 12(2), 163–72.
• WHO. (2020a, June 1). Maintaining essential health services during the COVID-19 outbreak. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emer- gencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/related-health-issues
• WHO. (2020b, June 1). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19): How is it transmitted?. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q- a-detail/coronavirus-disease-covid-19-how-is-it-transmitted
• WHO. (2021a, May 13). Coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-corona- virus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/coronavirus- disease-covid-19
• WHO. (2021b, October 1) Advice for the public: Coronavirus dis- ease (COVID-19). Retrieved from https://www.who.int/emergen- cies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public
• WHO. (2022, April 13). WHO Coronavirus (COVID-19) dashboard. Retrieved from https://covid19.who.int/
• Wolf, M. S., Serper, M., Opsasnick, L., O’Conor, R. M., Curtis, L., Bena- vente, J. Y. … Bailey, S. C. (2020). Awareness, attitudes, and actions related to COVID-19 among adults with chronic conditions at the onset of the U.S. outbreak: A cross-sectional survey. Annals of In- ternal Medicine, 173(2), 100–109.
• Zigmond, A. S., & Snaith, R. P. (1983). The hospital anxiety and de- pression scale. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 67(6), 361–370.