The relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychiatric symptoms of schizophrenic patients during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

Purpose: Our study aimed to examine the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia Material and Methods: Following the rules on infection, a face-to-face questionnaire was conducted with 103 patients with schizophrenia. Participants were evaluated by using the COVID-19 Fear Scale (FCoV-19S) and the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). Results: Participants' average FCoV-19S scores were less than half of the maximum score on the scale. We found that positive symptoms score was significantly negatively associated with FCoV-19S scores, whereas negative symptoms score was positively associated with the FCoV-19S scores in the bivariate model. We found that positive symptoms predicted fear of COVID-19 negatively and significantly, while general psychopathology symptoms predicted fear of COVID-19 positively and significantly.. Conclusion: We think it is necessary to develop situation-specific rehabilitation interventions for this group, which has become more vulnerable to the COVID-19 outbreak. We are of the opinion that various methods of intervention should be developed and addressed in future studies about possible consequences of low or high COVID-19 fear.