@Article{ijmhp.2022.019013,
AUTHOR = {Faruk Kurhan, Gülsüm Zuhal Kamış, Emine Füsun Akyüz Çim, Abdullah Atli, Dilem Dinc},
TITLE = {Relationship between Obsessive-Compulsive Symptoms and Anxiety Levels during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Healthcare Professionals vs. Non-Healthcare Professionals},
JOURNAL = {International Journal of Mental Health Promotion},
VOLUME = {24},
YEAR = {2022},
NUMBER = {3},
PAGES = {399--413},
URL = {http://www.techscience.com/IJMHP/v24n3/47048},
ISSN = {2049-8543},
ABSTRACT = {The present study investigated the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on anxiety levels, contamination and
responsibility/control obsessions and associated OC behaviors in healthcare versus non-healthcare professionals.
The study also aimed to examine the relationship between anxiety levels and obsessive-compulsive (OC) symptom levels, gender, age, educational level, and personal and family history of chronic diseases. The 664 participants
included 395 (59.5%) men and 269 (40.5%) women and comprised 180 (27.1%) healthcare professionals and 484
(72.9%) non-healthcare professionals. The survey included three data collection tools: (i) Sociodemographic data
form, (ii) Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), and (iii) the Dimensional Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Abriged (DOCS-A)
pre- and post-pandemic forms. The BAI scores established a moderate positive correlation with post-pandemic
DOCS-A total scores and a weak positive correlation with pre-pandemic DOCS-A total scores (p < 0.001 for
both). Pre- and post-pandemic DOCS-A total and subdimension scores were significantly higher in women than
in men (p < 0.05). Participants with a personal history of chronic diseases had higher BAI and DOCS-A scores
compared to participants with no such history (p < 0.001 and p < 0.001, respectively). The results indicated a
significant increase in OC symptoms during the pandemic period compared to the pre-pandemic period and a
moderate correlation between the anxiety levels and OC symptom severity. It was also revealed that female gender
and personal or family history of chronic diseases posed a higher risk for the increase in anxiety and OC symptoms and healthcare professionals had a higher risk of developing anxiety symptoms compared to non-healthcare
professionals.},
DOI = {10.32604/ijmhp.2022.019013}
}