Psychological well-being of healthcare workers during COVID-19: Relationship with risk perception and fear in the context of health belief model

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the extent of fear and risk perception related to COVID-19 and their impact on the psychological well-being of healthcare workers. Data were gathered through an online survey, incorporating questions about risk perception utilizing the health belief model, the Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire-12. A total of 364 HCWs participated in the survey, with 94% of participants identified as being in the high-risk category for mental disorders based on their General Health Questionnaire scores. The assessment of COVID-19-related risk perception within the Health Belief Model demonstrated significant correlations between perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived barriers, and self-efficacy with both the fear scale and General Health Questionnaire scores. Linear regression was employed to identify factors influencing General Health Questionnaire scores, revealing that risk perception, Fear of COVID-19 scores, marital status, and perceived health were significantly associated with General Health Questionnaire scores. These findings underscore the importance of monitoring the psychological well-being of healthcare workers throughout all stages of pandemic preparedness and response.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19
• healthcare workers
• preparedness
• psychological well-being
• risk perception

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Authors’ contributions

Cavit I. Yavuz: conceptualization, study design, statistical analysis, writing original draft preparation. M. İrem Yildiz: conceptualization, study design, writing original draft preparation. Özge Y. Sari: conceptualization, data collection, writing original draft preparation. Aysenur B. Uçgun: study design, data collection, writing original draft preparation. Hakan Altintas: conceptualization, study design, manuscript writing review and editing.

Additional information

Funding

No fund or grant was received.