Evaluation of the behavior and health anxiety levels the patients applying to the periodontology clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic

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Background: The aim of this study was to examine the general behavioral status of individuals who applied to a periodontology clinic during the COVID-19 pandemic to evaluate their health anxiety levels and to compare their anxiety score averages in terms of various factors. Methods: This study was carried out using the face-to-face survey method. Participants were asked to fill out a demographic data form, a survey form asking about pandemic-related behaviors, and the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI). The effects of factors such as age, gender, marital status, educational status, working in a health institution, and having had COVID-19 disease on health anxiety levels were investigated. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Shapiro-Wilk test, independent samples t test, ANOVA, and Tukey’s HSD test were used for statistical analysis (P<0.05). Results: A total of 400 volunteer participants were included (252 females and 148 males). Anxiety score averages showed a statistically significant difference in terms of gender and education (P=0.023 and P=0.001, respectively). Accordingly, the females’ mean SHAI score (17.45±7.053) was found to be higher than the males’ (15.69±8.161). The mean SHAI scores of primary school graduates (20.86±6.105) were higher than those of high school (15.95±8.197) and university graduates (16.11±6.367). There was no significant difference in terms of marital status, working in a health institution, and being diagnosed with COVID-19. Also, 48.2% of the participants only used surgical masks. Conclusion: Most participants declared that their confidence in healthcare workers increased during the epidemic. Females and individuals with low educational status had higher health anxiety in this study.