The relationship between Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak related perceptions and health anxiety

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between health anxiety and the perceptions and attitudes of the individuals living in Turkey during COVID-19 outbreak. This research was carried out using a volunteer-based internet data collection technique with a sample of 448 people, aged between 15 and 71, who were reached by a simple random sampling method. In the study, the participants were asked to fill out "The Personal Information Form," "the Health Anxiety Scale," and "the Perception and Attitudes towards Coronavirus (COVID-19) Outbreak Questionnaire" to determine their perceptions and attitudes toward coronavirus disease. For the analysis of the data, SPSS 25.0 program was used. In the study, a positive relationship was found between the participants' health anxiety and disease perception, causes perception, and avoidance behavior, and a negative relationship with control perception. It was detected that as the age of the participants increased, their health anxiety levels, and their behavior to avoid coronavirus disease decreased. Also, as the income of the participants increased, their health anxiety levels decreased. Lastly, the level of women's avoidance of personal contact and their health anxiety during the pandemic were significantly higher than men. This study revealed that the health anxiety levels were found to be low for the sample. The levels of avoidance behavior and health anxiety in women were higher than in men. The present study is expected to be beneficial for social workers, mental health professionals, health authorities and doctors while developing public health strategies.