Anxiety, Depression and Death Anxiety in Individuals with COVID-19


KARADAĞ S., Ergin C., Erden S.

OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING, 2022 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Publication Date: 2022
  • Doi Number: 10.1177/00302228221124981
  • Journal Name: OMEGA-JOURNAL OF DEATH AND DYING
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, ASSIA, IBZ Online, Periodicals Index Online, Abstracts in Social Gerontology, AgeLine, ATLA Religion Database, CINAHL, EBSCO Education Source, Education Abstracts, EMBASE, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo, Social services abstracts, Sociological abstracts, Violence & Abuse Abstracts
  • Keywords: death anxiety, nursing, anxiety, depression, COVID-19
  • Çukurova University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the death anxiety, anxiety, and depression levels of the individuals staying at the hospital due to COVID-19. The study recruited 300 patients with confirmed COVID-19 who were staying at specialized clinics in the hospital. Three tools - A Patient Information Form, the Death Anxiety Scale (DAS), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)-were used to collect data. The findings of the present study revealed that 28.7% of the participants were at a high risk for developing anxiety and 45.0% were equally at a high risk for developing depression. 33.3% of the participants suffered from high level of death anxiety. There was a positive and highly significant correlation between their death anxiety and their anxiety and depression scores (p < .001). Accordingly, more evidence-based studies need to be conducted that examine how effective non-pharmacological practices are at helping COVID-19 patients by identifying their anxiety, depression, and death anxiety. Furthermore, nurses need to take care of patient care in a holistic manner that would include addressing patients' psychological needs alongside their physical problems.