Physicians’ COVID-19 Phobia and Perceived Stress Levels in the Pandemic

Introduction: Healthcare workers are the riskiest group in the epidemic. This study aims to determine physicians’ coronavirus-19 phobia and perceived stress levels and examine the related factors during the pandemic. Materials and Methods: A total of 297 physicians were reached this cross-sectional analytical study. The descriptive characteristics form, the perceived stress scale (PSS), and the coronavirus-19 phobia scale (C19P-S) were used. In the statistical analysis, descriptive statistics, independent groups t test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis analysis, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression analyzes (Backward LR method) were used in nonparametric conditions. Results: The total mean score of C19P-S and PSS were determined as 44.9 ± 13.5 and 27.9 ± 8.7, respectively. The predictors of COVID-19 phobia as being married, being over 30 years old, questioning the choice of profession, thinking that the behavior of the close environment has changed positively in the pandemic, and increased stress perception were determined. The predictors of perceived stress as female gender, questioning the choice of profession, thinking that she is not affected by being declared a “hero” in the media, thinking that the behavior of the society has changed in a negative way, and an increased phobia of COVID-19 were detected. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the increased stress level of physicians increases COVID-19 phobia and this relationship is bidirectional. Because of this mutually nurturing relationship, developing remedial attitudes towards both stress and phobia may provide multifaceted benefits to both healthcare professionals and the society they serve