Evaluation of the effect of the level of knowledge about COVID-19 disease on COVID-19 vaccine preference and vaccination status in patients aged 18-65 who applied to ESOGU Medical Faculty Family Medicine outpatient clinics

Coronavirus disease is a viral disease that has entered our lives since December 2019 and turned into a pandemic, affecting many aspects of our lives, and can damage many organs and systems in our body, especially our respiratory tract. Many successful studies have been carried out in terms of social protection measures, especially vaccines, with the acquisition of clearer data during the Covid-19 pandemic process and the increase in our level of knowledge about the disease. Our aim in our study is to examine the effect of knowledge level and sociodemographic characteristics on Covid-19 disease in patients aged between 18-65 years on Covid-19 vaccine preference and vaccination status. The survey form of the research was applied to 207 patients aged between 18-65 years who applied to Eskisehir Osmangazi University Health Practice and Research Hospital Family Medicine Polyclinics between 01.06.2022 and 30.09.2022 by face-to-face interview method. In our study, there is a statistically significant difference in terms of COVID-19 Knowledge Score among those of different ages. The highest COVID-19 Knowledge Score was found in those aged 31-40 years (26.35), and the lowest in those aged 41 and over (24.24). There is no statistically significant difference in terms of the COVID-19 Knowledge Score between the participants whose COVID-19 infection status is different from the 1st, 2nd and 3rd dose vaccination status. A statistically significant relationship was found between the 3 doses of COVID-19 vaccine and the working status of the participants. When we consider the COVID-19 epidemic in the perspective of the future, our study gives an idea about which strategies should be used to spread information about the disease and vaccination in the society.