Investigation of Perceived Loneliness and Death Anxiety Levels in COVID-19 Patients

Abstract

Aim: The study was conducted to investigation of perceived loneliness and death anxiety levels in COVID-19 patients. Material and Methods: This cross-sectional and correlational study was carried out in Siirt Education and Research Hospital, located in southeastern Turkey, between January and April 2021. The population of the study consisted of patients who were diagnosed with COVID-19 over the age of 18. The sample of the study consisted of 152 patients who agreed to participate in the study at the time of the study without any sampling selection. The data were collected using an patient information form, the UCLA-Loneliness Scale and the Death Anxiety Scale and evaluated using descriptive statistics, independent samples t test, Mann Whitney-U test, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis test, Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc test, and Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The loneliness and death anxiety mean scores of the patients were 44.26 10.12 and 8.65 3.23, respectively. There was a highly significant positive correlation between their loneliness and death anxiety mean scores (p<0.05). Conclusion: In the study, it was determined that the patients experienced moderate levels of loneliness and death anxiety. It was determined that perceived loneliness increased the fear of death.

Keywords

• COVID-19
• Death anxiety
• Loneliness

COVID-19 Hastalarında Algılanan Yalnızlık ve Ölüm Kaygısı Düzeylerinin İncelenmesi

Öz

Amaç: Bu çalışma, COVID-19 tanılı hastalarda algılanan yalnızlık ve ölüm kaygısı düzeylerinin incelenmesi amacıyla yapılmıştır. Gereç ve Yöntem: Kesitsel ve korelasyonel nitelikte yapılan bu çalışma, Ocak-Nisan 2021 tarihleri arasında Türkiye’nin güneydoğusunda yer alan Siirt Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi’nde gerçekleştirilmiştir. Çalışmanın evrenini, 18 yaş üzeri COVID-19 tanısı konulan hastalar oluşturdu. Çalışmanın örneklemi ise, herhangi örnekleme seçimi yapılmadan çalışmanın yapıldığı tarihlerde çalışmaya katılmayı kabul eden 152 hasta oluşturdu. Veriler, hasta bilgi formu, UCLA-Yalnızlık Ölçeği ve Ölüm Kaygısı Ölçeği kullanılarak toplanmış ve tanımlayıcı istatistikler, bağımsız örneklemler t testi, Mann Whitney-U testi, ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis testi, Dunn-Bonferroni post hoc testi ve Pearson korelasyon analizi kullanılarak değerlendirildi. Bulgular: Hastaların yalnızlık ve ölüm kaygısı puan ortalamaları sırasıyla 44.26 10.12 ve 8.65 3.23’tür. Yalnızlık ve ölüm kaygısı puan ortalamaları arasında anlamlı pozitif ilişki olduğu saptanmıştır (p<0.05). Sonuç: Çalışmada, hastaların orta düzeyde yalnızlık ve ölüm kaygısı yaşadığı saptandı. Algılanan yalnızlığın ölüm korkusunu artırdığı belirlendi.

Kaynakça

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