Abstract

Objectives: Because of the prolongation of the pandemic process, it has gained importance to identify the problems experienced by healthcare workers due to COVID-19 and provide the necessary support. This study was planned to examine the coronavirus-19 phobia and related factors in doctors and nurses.

Methods: The sample of the study consisted of 327 healthcare professionals working in a training and research hospital in Istanbul. Research data were collected with “Personal Information Form” and “COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S)”.

Results: It was determined that the mean age of the participants was 28.82 ± 6.411, 82.3% were women, 65.1% were university graduates, 65.4% were single and 81.7% were nurses. It was determined that the working years of the participants were 5.97 ± 5.910, 79.8% of them were working/working in the COVID-19 services. The total C19P-S score of the participants was 53.43 ± 15.31.It was determined that women experienced phobia at a higher rate than men (p=0.003). It was determined that the level of phobia of nurses was higher than doctors (p=0.002). It was determined that the level of phobia was higher in the participants who lived with a vulnerable group (p=0.002) and who started living separately from the people they lived with during the pandemic period (p=0.002). A significant negative correlation was found between the age of the participants and the level of phobia (p=0.020) and between the years of working in the profession and the psychological sub-dimension (p=0.037).

Conclusion: During the pandemic, in-service training on prevention and coping with infectious diseases should be organized especially for health workers who encounter pandemics at young ages and in the first years of their profession.