Health and Death Anxiety in Those Who Lost Relatives to COVID-19: A Cross-Sectional Study
Makaleler > Tam Makale · 2024
Yazarlar: Gülay TAŞDEMİR YİĞİTOĞLU, Gülseren KESKİN, Nesrin ÇUNKUŞ KÖKTAŞ
Turkiye Klinikleri Journal of Nursing Sciences, Uluslararası, 2024, cilt 16, ss 885-893
DOI: 10.5336/nurses.2023-100114
Özet
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the health and death anxiety of those who lost their relatives due to coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) in Türkiye. Material and Methods: The sample of descriptive and cross-sectional study included 213 individuals had lost their relatives due to COVID-19, lived two cities in western Türkiye. The personal information form, Health Anxiety Scale (HAS), Abdel-Khalek Death Anxiety Scale (AKDAS), and Beck Anxiety Scales were used for data collection between August and October 2021. Data were collected with Google Forms. The study link to the questionnaire was distributed to all eligible participants through email and social media websites (Instagram, and WhatsApp). Results: It was found that there was statistical significance in the HAS hypersensitivity to physical symptoms and anxiety scores in terms of gender. A statistical difference was determined in the AKDAS scores by the gender, marital, and child status of the individuals. A positive correlation was found between AKDAS, the negative consequences of the disease subdimension of the HAS, and the total score of the HAS. A positive correlation was found between death anxiety and health anxiety and anxiety total score averages. Moreover, death anxiety was mostly affected by negative results of the disease levels (β=0.421). Conclusion: In the study, it was concluded that there is a positive relationship between health and death anxiety in individuals who lost their relatives due to COVID-19. Psychoeducational programs can be applied to individuals who lost their relatives, on issues such as coping with stress, problem solving, anger management, self-knowledge and awareness to reduce their health and death anxieties.