Comparison of perceptions of ilness, psychosocial adaptations and perceived social support of people with COVID-19 and chronic infection

This study was conducted in a descriptive, cross-sectional type to determine the psychosocial adjustment, perception of illness and perceived social support level of individuals with COVID-19 and chronic infections (Tuberculosis, Hepatitis, HIV) and to compare the two patient groups in terms of the variables examined. This study was carried out with 100 participants who were hospitalized between January 2021 and January 2022 in the Infection Service of Sultangazi Haseki Training and Research Hospital in Istanbul. Personal Information Form, Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Self-Report Scale, Illness Perception Scale, and Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale were applied to the patients. Data were evaluated with descriptive statistics, Chi-Square, and Mann Whitney U test. The mean age of the patients participating in the study was 43.25±17.00 (min.-max:19-91) years, and 56% were male. The majority reported that they were married (53%), primary school graduates (41%), and working (59%). Of the patients, %60 was diagnosed with COVID-19 and 40% of them were chronic infections. The mean age, education, and employment status of the two patient groups were significantly different (p<0.05). Clinically, a statistically significant difference was found between the mean rank of illness and hospitalization time (p<0.0001). It was determined that those with chronic infectious diseases had worse psychosocial adjustment, emotional representations of the perception of the disease, the negative consequences of the disease were higher, and they were able to understand the disease more than the patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 (p<0.05). It was determined that patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19 had higher beliefs about personal and treatment control than the other group (p<0.05). It was determined that patients with chronic infection experienced more stigma (p<0.0001), and perceived social support was less (p<0.05) compared to patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19. A statistically significant difference was found between the mean ranks of the citations for the possible causes of the disease in the two patient groups (p<0.05).