Investigation of Health Anxiety about COVID-19 and the Related Assumptions about the World of Health Care Professionals and the General Public

Abstract

Aim: This study aimed to review the health anxiety and related assumptions about the world health care professionals and members of the public concerning COVID-19 as well as the factors affecting these. Materials and Methods: This study was descriptive, cross-sectional, and correlational. The Personal Information Form (PIF), Health Anxiety Inventory (HAI), and World Assumptions Scale (WAS) were used to collect data. Results: 56.6% of the participants were health care professionals. The WAS total scores differed by gender, marital status, and educational background (p<0.05). The HAI scores differed by gender, willingness to visit dining and shopping venues after the pandemic, house cleaning, social distancing, and the perception of how the world changed after the COVID-19 pandemic (p<0.05). The Mean HAI scores of the members of the general public and health care professionals were found to be 16.42 ± 6.21 and 15.96 ± 6.37 respectively. The mean WAS scores of the members of the public and health care professionals were found to be 107.40 ± 22.15 and 109.27 ± 19.84 respectively. A statistically significant relationship was determined between the HAI and luck (fortune), self- worth, and the WAS total scores (p<0.05). The linear regression model, used to examine the effect of demographic characteristics on the WAS score, was discovered to have statistical significance (F=4.180; p<0.001). Linear regression models were also used to examine the effect of demographic characteristics on the HAI score (F=6.458, p<0.001), and the effect of the WAS sub-dimension scores on anxiety (F=3.399; p=0.003), and they were both found to be statistically significant. Accordingly, the anxiety score decreased by 0.327 as the self- worth score increased by 1 (p=0.001). Conclusion: The anxiety experienced by health care workers and other individuals, as well as their assumptions about the world, were similar, according to this study, which was conducted near the end of the COVID-19 outbreak. However, it was determined that the pandemic had led to differences in perceptions about daily life and the well-being of the world.