3 ׀ RESULTS
The average age of the participants was 31.61 ± 11.05 (min-max: 19-76).
67.0% reported living in a nuclear family, 1.9% in a single-parent
family, 13.2% alone, and the rest (17.9%) in an extended family. 17%
reported that they smoked, 4.7% reported that they smoked + used
alcohol, 75.5% reported that they did neither, and 2.8% reported that
they had previously had an addiction. 16% stated that they had a
chronic disease.
As seen in Table 1, 11.3% reported living alone, 82.1% with their
families, and 6.6% with relatives or friends (Table 1).
As seen in Table 2, 92.5% stated that their health was generally good.
However, 59.4% stated that they were concerned that their health might
be negatively affected. Of those who had contracted COVID-19, 81.1%
stated that their mental health deteriorated and 64.2% stated that
their physical health was impaired. 37.7% stated that they did not know
how they contracted the disease, and 58.5% treated COVID-19 at home
(Table 2). The participants’ average length of hospital stay due to
COVID-19 was calculated as 4.33 ± 6.69 days (Min-max: 0-30 days). 92.5%
stated that their health was generally good while the rest reported
having poor health status.
This research examined whether the participants’ scores from the overall
PTGI or its sub-dimensions differed in terms of their sociodemographic
characteristics or health status. As a result, it was observed that
variables such as age, gender, marital status, income status, parental
status, family type, members of the household, place of residence,
perceived health status, health-related anxiety, and presence of a
chronic disease did not make a difference in the scores (p
> 0.05).
As seen in Table 3, 41.5% reported avoiding crowds, 39.6% avoiding
public transportation, and 50.9% a decline in their interpersonal
relationships after the outbreak of the pandemic (Table 3). Of the
participants, 45.3% stated that their habit of storing food and
cleaning materials did not change, 34% stated that the frequency they
visited health institutions did not change, 48.1% reported no change in
their sleeping habits, 40.6% reported no change in their social media
usage habits, 37.7% stated that they did not have any difficulty
focusing on their goals, 39.6% stated that their belief in the effect
of modern medicine did not change, and 36.8% stated that their trust in
public institutions remained unchanged. Moreover, 33.0% reported an
increase in their frequency of handwashing, 50% reported a significant
increase in their usage of masks and gloves outside, 39.6% reported an
increase in their health-related anxiety, 44.3% reported an increase in
symptoms that bring to mind COVID-19, 48.1% reported an increase in
their healthy eating habits, 45.3% reported an increase in their habit
of following the news, and 50.9% stated that they started to question
the meaning of life more often.
As seen in Table 4, the median value of CiSP scores was obtained to be
high for primary school graduates (p = .047), for unemployed
participants (p = .006), for those who reported that their mental health
was affected due to the pandemic (p = .026), and for those who reported
they were concerned about their health (p = .008) (Table 4). Also, the
median value of ACPoL scores was obtained to be high for those who
reported that they had previously had an addiction (p = .010), for those
who stated that their mental health was affected negatively after the
pandemic (p = .022), and for those who reported they were concerned
about their health (p = .013). Besides, the mean and standard deviation
values of CiIR scores were obtained to be high for those who perceived
their income status as low (p = .012), for those who stated that their
mental health was affected negatively after the pandemic (p = .022), and
for those who stated that their physical health was impaired after the
pandemic (p = .012). Finally, the median value of overall PTGI scores
was obtained to be high for unemployed participants (p = .044), for
those who stated that their mental health was affected negatively after
the pandemic (p = .010), and for those who reported they were concerned
about their health (p = .006).
Although the participants’ scores from the overall PTGI are not shown in
the table, those who reported an increase in their frequency of visiting
health institutions (KW = 9.993, p = .041), those who reported increased
health-related anxiety (KW= 10.300, p= .036), those who reported an
increase in the habit of following the news (KW= 18.232, p= .001), and
those with increased trust in public institutions (KW = 16.463, p =
.002) obtained higher scores.