COVİD-19 knowledge level and, anxiety and fear status of employees of Ankara Yeni Başkent AUTO industry Site

The knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of individuals in the successful management of COVID-19, which completely affects the social determinants of public health; It guides policy makers to develop preventive approach strategies for infectious diseases. The uncertainty and infodemic of COVID-19, which caused panic on a global scale, adversely affected the mental health status of professionals and sector workers who must continue for a sustainable life. The aim of this study is to determine the COVID-19 knowledge level and COVID-19 anxiety and fear status of Ankara Yeni Başkent Auto Industry Site employees. The study included 249 employees aged 18 years and over who volunteered to participate in the research, working in Ankara Yeni Başkent Oto Sanayi Sitesi between April 1 and May 31, 2022. A questionnaire to determine the sociodemographic characteristics of the employees, their working status during the COVID-19 outbreak and pandemic, COVID-19 knowledge level and COVID-19 anxiety; The COVID-19 Fear Scale and the Corona Virus Anxiety Scale were applied. The data were analyzed using the SPSS version 26.0. Chi-square, Mann-Whitney U, and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used for between-group comparisons, Spearman's rank correlation test was used to assess the relationship between scales. 90.4% of the auto industry employees are male and the average age is 37.6 ± 12.3%. The education level of 30.5% of auto industry employees is primary school and below. 37.3% of auto industry employees had COVID-19, and 43.4% continued to work during the closures. 83.5% of auto industry workers who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least 1 dose. 52.2% of auto industry workers reported symptoms of COVID-19 as "fever"; 49.3% of them gave the answers of "taste-smell loss" which is one of the less common symptoms and 32.5% "cough". 88% of auto industry employees. 7 of them knew that COVID-19 was transmitted by "droplets of cough and sneeze", 85.9% of them knew that it spread from person to person. Auto industry workers using masks to protect themselves from COVID-19 are 67%, auto industry workers using disinfectants or cologne are 60.6%, and 59% are paying attention to their physical distance. 76.7% of auto industry employees are concerned about infecting their family with COVID-19, which can be transmitted through working life. The average score of the Corona Virus Anxiety Scale of the auto industry workers is 0.52 ± 1.53, the COVID-19 Fear Scale score is 13.3 ± 6.5 on average. Corona Virus Anxiety Scale and COVID-19 Fear Scale mean scores of auto industry employees wearing masks, and COVID-19 Fear Scale mean scores of those who have been vaccinated are high (p<0.05). Fear of contracting the disease is positively associated with compliance with preventive public health measures. In the next period, 68.3% of the 45.6% auto industry employees who will continue to work in COVID-19 positivity will continue to work due to "economic concerns". As in the case of COVID-19, it will be beneficial for public health to consider epidemics, which are a part of evolution, as a biological, psychological, social and economic whole. Keywords: COVID-19, industrial worker, knowledge, anxiety, fear