Objective:

To determine the levels of COVID-19-related fear and to investigate fear-associated factors among older people.

Methods:

This study was conducted with patients aged 65 years and older from the Family Medicine Clinic of Health Sciences University Şişli Hamidiye Etfal Hospital over a 1-month period. A telephone survey was administered to evaluate patients’ sociodemographic data and knowledge level on the COVID-19 pandemic and the degree of its impact. The fear levels of participants were determined using the fear of COVID-19 scale (FCV-19 S). Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 15.0. A p value of < 0.05 was considered to be statistically significant.

Results:

The study included 315 participants: 178 were female and 137 were male. The mean age was 71.5 ± 5.6 (min: 65, max: 94) years, and 26 participants were living alone. Moreover, 47.6% participants considered they had sufficient information about the COVID-19 outbreak, and 61.6% received information about the pandemic from television and 22.2% from their inner circle. While 11.7% participants considered they would require psychological support after the COVID-19 pandemic, 30.8% had sleep disorders for the last month. The mean FCV-19 S score was 16.0 ± 6.4; the FCV-19 S scores were statistically higher in participants who were women, living alone, had partial information about the COVID-19 pandemic, had sleep disorders for the last month, and were in requirement of psychological support after the pandemic.

Conclusion:

It is necessary to screen the older people for the COVID-19-related fear and accompanying psychological disorders and to develop appropriate intervention programs for individuals at risk.

中文翻译：

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老年人对 COVID-19 感染的恐惧

客观的：

确定与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧程度并调查老年人中与恐惧相关的因素。

方法：

这项研究是在 1 个月内对来自健康科学大学 Şişli Hamidiye Etfal 医院的家庭医学诊所的 65 岁及以上的患者进行的。进行了电话调查，以评估患者对 COVID-19 大流行的社会人口学数据和知识水平及其影响程度。参与者的恐惧程度是使用 COVID-19 恐惧量表 (FCV-19 S) 确定的。使用SPSS 15.0进行统计分析。p 值 < 0.05 被认为具有统计学意义。

结果：

该研究包括 315 名参与者：178 名女性和 137 名男性。平均年龄为 71.5 ± 5.6（最小：65，最大：94）岁，26 名参与者独居。此外，47.6% 的参与者认为他们有足够的关于 COVID-19 爆发的信息，61.6% 的参与者从电视中获得了有关大流行的信息，22.2% 的参与者从他们的核心圈子中获得了信息。虽然 11.7% 的参与者认为他们在 COVID-19 大流行后需要心理支持，但 30.8% 的参与者在上个月患有睡眠障碍。平均 FCV-19 S 评分为 16.0 ± 6.4；女性参与者的 FCV-19 S 评分在统计学上更高，这些参与者是独居、有关于 COVID-19 大流行的部分信息、上个月有睡眠障碍以及大流行后需要心理支持的参与者。

结论：

有必要对老年人进行与 COVID-19 相关的恐惧和伴随的心理障碍的筛查，并为有风险的个人制定适当的干预计划。