TURKISH JOURNAL OF ONCOLOGY 2023 , Vol 38 , Num 1
Anxiety Levels of the Patients and Their Relatives During Their Visit of Health Institutions in COVID-19 Pandemic
Hüseyin TEPETAM1,Şule KARABULUT GÜL1,Yalçın HACIOĞLU2,Beyhan CEYLANER BIÇAKÇI1,Ayfer AY EREN1,Ahmet Fatih ORUÇ3
1Deparment of Radiation Oncology, Kartal Dr. Lütfi Kırdar Kartal City Hospital, İstanbul-Türkiye
2Deparment of Family Medicine, İstanbul Training and Research Hospital, İstanbul-Türkiye
3Deparment of Radiation Oncology, Istanbul Oncology Hospital, İstanbul-Türkiye DOI : 10.5505/tjo.2022.3665 OBJECTIVE
In our study, it was aimed to compare the anxiety; state and trait anxiety states among the communities who went to health institutions for different purposes during the COVID-19 epidemic and to evaluate the factors affecting anxiety, state and trait anxiety.

METHODS
The data of this study were collected face to face using the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), State Anxiety Inventory (STAI-S) and Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI-T) for cancer patients who applied to the Oncology center between October 2020 and December 2020. Their companions and the patients who went to a primary healthcare institution. Participants" awareness of the COVID pandemic and the effects of the pandemic on their lives and demographic information were also recorded. A total of 252 participants responded to the tests.

RESULTS
In our study, 252 people, including 130 (51.6%) cancer patients, 49 (19.4%) cancer patient companions, and 73 outpatients who applied to a primary healthcare institution, participated in our study. In all participants, the mean anxiety level according to BAI was 10.75±12.5 (0?48), the mean state anxiety according to STAI-S was 44.42±10.59 (20?74), according to STAI-T, the mean trait anxiety was found to be 45.65±8.80 (20?78) points. Among the three groups, the highest anxiety, state and trait anxiety was seen in patients who applied to primary healthcare institution.

CONCLUSION
In our study, many factors affecting the anxiety and anxiety levels of the patients and their relatives who applied to health institutions for different reasons, also under the influence of the pandemic, were determined. With such studies, the psychosocial conditions of the patients and their relatives should be closely followed in the event of the future epidemics, and psychological treatments and support needs should be kept in mind in addition to the primary treatment of their diseases. Keywords : Anxiety; COVID-19 pandemic; state anxiety; trait anxiety