FEAR OF COVID-19 AMONG MEDICAL STUDENTS AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS

Abstract

Aims: To determine the level of COVID-19 fear among Turkish medical students, and show the relationship the types of education (online, hybrid, face to face), age, gender, grade, and level of fear. Methods: The study was conducted with 536 medical students from 30 different universities in Turkey. The questionnaire comprised 1 open-ended and 6 multiple choice questions for assessment of the demographic structure, in addition to 7 Likert-type questions within the 'Fear of COVID-19 Scale'. Results: Participants comprised 352 (65.7%) female and 184 (34.3%) male students, with a mean age of 20.04 ± 2.59 years and they showed significantly different Fear of COVID-19 Scale scores with regard to gender. The past or current presence of COVID-19 was determined as another variable that created a significant difference in the Fear of COVID-19 Scale scores. However, no relation between the past or current presence of COVID-19 in a family member and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale scores were found. Conclusion: In this study, it is demonstrated that fear of COVID-19 is higher among females and non-infected medical students compared to males and infected ones, respectively. These results can be used in assessing the fear level of COVID-19 among med- ical students concerning their gender their gender and infection history.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• medical students
• fear
• distance education
• medical education

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