Determining the Concerns and Stress Levels of the Elderly Population About COVID-19: A Sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: This study aims to determine the concerns and stress levels of individuals over the age of 65 towards COVID-19. Material and Method: The data of this sectional study was collected both through an online survey and face-to-face between February 15 and March 13, 2022. Seven hundred and sixty nine surveys that met the criteria for data quality were included in the study. Both a questionnaire prepared by the researchers to determine the socio-demographic characteristics of older people and their concerns state during COVID-19 and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 were used. Statistical analysis of the results obtained in the study was carried out with the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) for IBM 25 package program. Results: 49.9% of the participants were diagnosed with COVID-19. Additionally, 80.5% of the participants reported experiencing changes in their living circumstances as a result of the pandemic, while 88.2% reported feeling anxious during this period. The participants were seen to have an average score of 29.82±2.58 on the perceived stress scale. A statistically significant difference was seen in the average score of the perceived stress scale when comparing individuals based on their marital status, income, place of residence, presence of chronic condition (p <0.05). Conclusion: The study revealed that the participants’ reported stress level was moderate, with a significant number of persons experiencing anxiety.

Keywords

• elderly indidual
• COVID-19
• stress

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