Coronavirus-19 phobia and health literacy in adults: A descriptive-correlational study

Emine Derya Ister 1 * , Filiz Taş 1
More Detail
1 Nursing Department, Health Science Faculty, Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University, Kahramanmaraş, Turkey
* Corresponding Author
J CLIN MED KAZ, Volume 19, Issue 4, pp. 13-20. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/12260
OPEN ACCESS 1137 Views 723 Downloads
Download Full Text (PDF)

ABSTRACT

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the levels of health literacy (HL) and COVID-19 Phobia (C19P-S) in adult individuals and was to evaluate the relationship between health literacy and coronavirus-19 phobia among adults.
Materials and methods: The sample of this descriptive and correlational study consisted of 545 people living in Kahramanmaras city center and meeting the study criteria. Study data were collected through google forms using personal information form, Health Literacy Scale and Coronavirus-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S).
Results: The mean C19P-S score of the participants was 30±16.33. A statistically significant difference was determined between the mean C19P-S scores of women and men (p<0.05). It was determined that those with a middle income level, those who reported that they took adequate precautions to protect against coronavirus and those who did not receive health education had higher C19P-S score averages. According to the correlation analysis, there is no relationship between the health literacy total score and C19P-S [r(545)=-0.054; p>0.05]. There was a weak negative statistically significant correlation between the somatic sub-dimension of C19P-S and health literacy total score, access, understanding, and appraisal sub-dimensions (p<0.05).
Conclusion: HL adult population was generally high and the coronavirus phobia was moderate. Addressing HL as a variable may be beneficial in the management of coronavirus phobia.

CITATION

Derya Ister E, Taş F. Coronavirus-19 phobia and health literacy in adults: A descriptive-correlational study. J CLIN MED KAZ. 2022;19(4):13-20. https://doi.org/10.23950/jcmk/12260

REFERENCES

  • Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health COVID-19 Information Platform, Turkey. 2022. https://covid19.saglik.gov.tr/ 09.02.2022
  • Orkan Okan, Kristine Sørensen, Melanie Messer. Coronavirus Needs: How to Become a Health Literate Society. 2020. https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/corona- virus-needs-how-become-health-literate-society-135382. Accessed 19.12.2021
  • Özkan S, Tüzün H, Uğraş Dikmen A, Ilhan Mn. Salgınlarda Toplum Davranışı ve Sağlık Okuryazarlığı. J Biotechnol and Strategic Health Res. 2020;1(Özel Sayı):105-110. https://doi.org/10.34084/bshr.719139
  • Kickbusch I, Maag D. Health Literacy. In: editors International. Encycl Public Heal Vol 3. 2008;3:204–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-012373960-5.00584-0
  • Simonds SK. Health education as social policy. Health Educ Monogr [Internet]. 1974;2(1_suppl):1–10. http://doi.org/10.1177/10901981740020s102
  • WHO. Track 2: Health literacy and health behaviour. 7th Global Conference on Health Promotion: trackthemes. Health Promotion (serialonline) 2016 Apr-May, http://www.who.int/healthpromotion/conferences/7gchp/track2/en/ 15.12.2021
  • Health literacy: report of the council on scientific affairs. Ad Hoc Committee on Health Literacy for the Council on Scientific Affairs, American Medical Association. JAMA 1999;281(6):552-7. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.281.6.552
  • Kutner M, Greenberg E, Jin Y, Paulsen C. The health literacy of America’s adults: results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Education. 2006;6:1–59.
  • Castro-Sánchez E, Chang PWS, Vila-Candel R, Escobedo AA, Holmes AH. Health literacy and infectious diseases: why does it matter? Int J Infect Dis. 2016;43:103–10. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijid.2015.12.019
  • Tanrıöver Durusu M, Yıldırım HH, Ready Demiray FN, Çakır B, Akalın E. Türkiye Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Araştırması. Sağlık ve Sos Hizmet Çalışanları Sendikası Sağlık-Sen Yayınları-25, Ankara. 2014;14–26.
  • Zarghami M. Psychiatric aspects of coronavirus (2019-nCoV) infection. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2020;14(1):19–21. http://doi.org/10.5812/ijpbs.102957
  • Lee SA, Jobe MC, Mathis AA, Gibbons JA. Incremental validity of coronaphobia: Coronavirus anxiety explains depression, generalized anxiety, and death anxiety. J Anxiety Disord. 2020;74 (102268):102268. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.janxdis.2020.102268
  • Hermans L, Van den Broucke S, Gisle L, Demarest S, Charafeddine R. Mental health, compliance with measures and health prospects during the COVID-19 epidemic: the role of health literacy. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1365. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11437-w
  • Samimi Ardestani SM, Khosravani V, Sharifi Bastan F, Baloğlu M. The Persian version of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (Persian-C19P-S) and the differences in COVID-19-related phobic reactions in patients with anxiety disorders. Int J Ment Health Addict. 2021;1–17. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11469-021-00523-0
  • Toçi E. Health literacy and socioeconomic characteristics among older people in transitional Kosovo. Br J Med Med Res. 2013;3(4):1646–58. http://doi.org/10.9734/bjmmr/2013/3972
  • Aras Z, Bayık Temel A. Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Ölçeğinin Türkçe Formunun Geçerlilik Ve Güvenirliğinin Değerlendirilmesi (Evaluation of the Validity and Reliability of the Turkish Form of the Health Literacy Scale). Florence Nightingale Hemşirelik Derg. 2017;25(2):85. https://doi.org/10.17672/fnhd.94626
  • Arpaci I, Karataş K, Baloğlu M. The development and initial tests for the psychometric properties of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-S). Pers Individ Dif 2020;164(110108):110108. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2020.110108
  • Berberoğlu U, Öztürk O, İnci MB, Ekerbiçer HÇ, Üniversitesi U, Fakültesi T, et al. Bir Aile Sağlığı Merkezine Kayıtlı 18-65 Yaş Grubu Bireylerdeki Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Durumunun Değerlendirilmesi Evaluation of the Health Literacy Status Among Individuals Aged 18-65 Registered in a Family Health Center. Sak Tıp Derg. 2018;8(3):575–81. https://doi.org/10.31832/smj.453846
  • Bakan AB, Yıldız M. 21-64 Yaş Grubundaki Bireylerin Sağlık Okuryazarlık Düzeylerinin Belirlenmesine Ilişkin Bir Çalışma. Sağlık ve Toplum. 2019;3(6):33–40.
  • İkiışık H, Turan G, Kutay F, Sever F, Keskin SN, Güdek H, et al. Investigation of health literacy level of patients who admitted to A tertiary training and research hospital. Journal of Ankara University Faculty of Medicine. 2020; 73(3), 247-252. https://doi.org/10.4274/atfm.galenos.2020.83007
  • Deniz S, Bentli R, Kalkanlı MT, Fırıncı B, Yalınız F, Demir E, et al. Malatya İlinde Çalışan Öğretmenlerin Sağlık Okuryazarlığı Düzeylerinin ve İlişkili Faktörlerin Belirlenmesi. Sak Med J. 2020;10(1):28-36 https://doi.org/10.31832/smj.636313
  • Yiğitalp G, Bayram Değer V, Çifçi S. Health literacy, health perception and related factors among different ethnic groups: a cross-sectional study in southeastern Turkey. BMC Public Health. 2021;21(1):1–10. http://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-11119-7
  • Yakar B, Gömleksiz M, Pirinççi E. Health Literacy Levels and Affecting Factors of Patients Who Applied to A University Hospital Polyclinic. Eurasian J Fam Med. 2019;8(1):27–35. http://doi.org/10.33880/ejfm.2019080104
  • Özdemir, Yakup. Determination of Health Literacy Level of Patients' who apply to Family Health Centers: Kahramanmaraş Province Example, Master’s Thesis, Hacettepe University Institute of Social Sciences, Ankara, 2018.
  • Oktay Arslan B, Batum Ö, Varol Y, Şenel E, Uçar ZZ. COVID-19 phobia in healthcare workers; A cross-sectional study from a pandemic hospital. Tuberk Toraks. 2021;69(2):207–16. http://doi.org/10.5578/tt.20219810
  • Abdelghani M, Hassan MS, Elgohary HM, Fouad E. Exploring the factors associated with coronaphobia among physicians during the COVID-19 outbreak in Egypt. Egypt J Neurol Psychiatry Neurosurg. 2021;57(1). http://doi.org/10.1186/s41983-021-00357-6
  • Bilgiç Ş, Baloğlu M, Tokalilar S. Adapting and validating the coronavirus-19 phobia scale (C19P-S) in Korea. Death Stud. 2022;46(3):590–4. http://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2021.1924897
  • Alnaddaf A, Baloğlu M. The validation of the Arabic version of the Coronavirus-2019 Phobia Scale (C19P-SA) and individual differences in coronaphobia experiences among an Arabic population. J Community Psychol. 2021;(jcop.22642). http://doi.org/10.1002/jcop.22642
  • Arpaci I, Karatas K, Baloglu M, Haktanir A. COVID-19 phobia in the United States: Validation of the COVID-19 Phobia Scale (C19P-SE). Death Stud. 2022;46(3):553–9. http://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2020.1848945
  • Nguyen HT, Do BN, Pham KM, Kim GB, Dam HTB, Nguyen TT, et al. Fear of COVID-19 scale—associations of its scores with health literacy and health-related behaviors among medical students. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020;17(11):1–14. http://doi:10.3390/ijerph17114164
  • Rohwer E, Mojtahedzadeh N, Neumann FA, Nienhaus A, Augustin M, Harth V, et al. The Role of Health Literacy among Outpatient Caregivers during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 2021;2019:1–25 https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph182211743