Examination of somatic complaints during the COVID-19 pandemic period through the somatoform dissociation scale in physicians sample

Purpose: This research aims to examine the somatic complaints and related characteristics of the physicians who took care of patients with Covid-19 infection in pandemic hospitals in Istanbul and agreed to participate in the study. Methods: The sample group of the study consists of a total of 158 physicians, 106 women and 52 men, who took care of patients with Covid-19 infection working in the pandemic hospital between 30 December 2020 and 30 January 2021. Participants were reached through whatsapp groups and were asked to fill out the Sociodemographic Data Form and the Somatoform Dissociation Scale (SDQ) online. Relationship and screening model were used in the research, and statistical analysis of the obtained data were made using SPSS 21.1 program NCSS (Number Cruncher Statistical System). Statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05. Results: The sample of our study consisted of a total of 158 physicians, 67.1% (n=106) female and 32.9% (n=52) male. Somatization disorder scale mean score of the entire sample was 27.26±10.94. In our sample; It was determined that the somatization complaints of the physicians working in the internal medicine unit were significantly higher than the physicians with a monthly income of 10000 TL and below, compared to the physicians with a monthly income of more than 10000 TL. In addition, cases with a history of Covid-19 infection were found to have more somatization symptoms than cases without a history of Covid-19 infection. No significant difference was found in terms of other variables. Conclusion: Considering our results, it is stated that physicians who deal with epidemic diseases more frequently have a high risk of developing psychosomatic symptoms and somatization disorder and it would be beneficial to provide psychological support to physicians working in this field; During the pandemic process, it was thought that it would be beneficial to increase the salaries of health workers or to make additional salary payments to increase their psychological well-being and professional motivation. Key Words: Covid-19, Physicians, Somatization