Access to Health Services Needed by the Society During Covid-19 Period and the Relationship Between Fear of Covid-19 and Perceived Health: Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Aim: In the Covid pandemic, the need for health services of the society increases with the burden of health institutions. This study was planned to determine how the health perception of the society, fear of Covid, and current conditions affect individuals' access to healthcare services they need. Materials and Methods: This study is of cross-sectional type. An online anonymous questionnaire was first sent to people in the directory via social media, using the snowball sampling method, and they were encouraged to pass the survey to others. Since the State of the Republic of Turkey recommended minimizing face-to-face interaction and staying in social isolation at home during the Covid-19 period, and due to restrictions and prohibitions, it was ensured that the surveys were applied to the participants online with the form link created in Google Forms. A total of 434 people were reached. Result: The average age of the participants is 30.69 ± 10.78 and 20.7% of them are male. 50.9% of them are single and 71.2% are university graduates. 78.1% of them have a nuclear family type and almost half of them reported their income as equal to income and expenses. Participants' Coronovirus-19 Fear Scale is overall Mean = 18.28, sd = 6.90 and it is not high, and Perception of Health Scale is overall Mean = 52.41, sd = 8.04 and can be qualified as high. Conclusion: Participants' fear of Covid-19 is lower than expected. However, people avoided going to hospitals even for routine check-ups and drug dosage adjustments.

Keywords

• koronovirüs
• covid-19
• sağlık hizmetleri
• toplum
• sağlık
• coronavirus
• covid-19
• healthcare
• society
• health