The Factors That Affect the Fear of COVID-19 in Students of the Physiotherapy and Rehabilitation Departments: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

ABS TRACT Objective: To determine the level of fear of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) and the factors that affect the fear of COVID-19 in students of the physiotherapy and rehabilitation departments. Material and Methods: The study involved 253 volunteer students from 4 different universities in Türkiye. Utilizing an online data collection technology, the participant information form and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale were used to collect the study’s data. Results: Female gender (p=0.06), not working in any job (p=0.76), income source only (p=0.92), smoking (p=0.26), and not using alcohol (p=0.88), history of chronic disease (p=0.32), no previous COVID-19 infection (p=0.96), 12 weeks after COVID-19 infection (p=0.17), 3 doses of vaccination (p=0.63), using public transportation (p=0.49) were factors that increased the level of fear in physiotherapy and rehabilitation department students. In addition, the fear levels of the students who had a family history of chronic disease (p=0.007) and had the thought of freezing the school (p=0.001) were significantly higher than the others. On the other hand, there was no significant difference between the fear of COVID-19 and terms of living environment, number of theoretical lessons, number of practical lessons and class size (p>0.05). Conclusion: Physiotherapy and rehabilitation department students have low-to-moderate fear of COVID-19. Those with a chronic disease in their family have a high fear of COVID-19, and those with a high level of fear consider freezing the school. The number of practical and theoretical lessons and class size have no effect on the level of fear.