Abstract:

The research was planned to determine the relationship between the fear of COVID-19 and adaptation to chronic diseases of individuals with chronic diseases. The population of the descriptive study consisted of individuals with at least one chronic disease living in Hakkari Province, and the sample consisted of 419 volunteer individuals with at least 1 chronic disease attached to the researchers' own social media accounts using the convenience sampling method. Ethics committee approval was obtained in the study, and data were collected using the Personal Descriptive Information Form, the COVID-19 Fear Scale (COVID-19 CS), and the Chronic Disease Adjustment Scale (CHUS). The mean age of the individuals in the study was 32.35±17.45, 59.4% of them were women. 41.8% of the participants reported that they had diseases such as neurological, cardiovascular and cancer, 24.3% of them and 75.5% of their relatives reported that they had COVID-19. Again, the mean score of COVID-19 PI of the participants was 19.10±7.53 and the mean score of HRAS was 73.75±18.85. It was determined that there was a significant increase in fear of COVID-19 as the age of the participants increased. It was found that women's mean scores of COVID-19 CS and HSQ physical adaptation sub-dimensions were significantly higher than men (p<0.05). It was determined that there was a moderately significant positive correlation between COVID-19 CS and HSQ (r=0.401; p<0.001). As a result, effective positive psychological interventions are recommended for individuals diagnosed with chronic diseases who have increased fear of COVID-19 during the pandemic.

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