Investigation of anxiety sensitivity levels of cancer patients in terms of COVID-19 vaccine: a cross-sectional study

INTRODUCTION: Our study’s purpose was to investigate the viewpoints of cancer patients who had not yet been vaccinated. Cancer patients usually cannot get every vaccine because their immunity is low. For this reason, we aimed to detect their anxiety and curiosity for new vaccines for a new disease. METHODS: The goal of this descriptive cross-sectional study was to investigate cancer patients’ perceptions of COVID vaccination. Over 18 years of age who have not yet been vaccinated for COVID-19 and who agreed to participate were included in the study. We applied three questionnaires between May and June 2021, one of them was prepared by us; the other two questionnaires were The State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) form and Anxiety Sensitivity index to a total of 497 participants. Chi-square, Spearmen correlation test, and multivariable multinomial logistic regression tests were used when comparing. RESULTS: Our participants’ ages were between 21 and 88, with a mean age of 61.38 (SD = 11.68), 48.6% (n = 251) of the participants were female. We discovered that 79.1% (n = 408) of respondents were not afraid of getting the COVID-19 vaccine. 27.7% (n = 143) of these patients were concerned about the COVID-19 vaccine’s adverse effects, and 24.2% (n = 125) were afraid of its side effects with their treatments. 91.1% (n = 470) of the patients did not know which vaccine they would have and the type of the vaccine. Since the anxiety level is generally higher in women, anxiety scores were also higher in cancers seen in women, such as breast and ovarian cancer. Of course, in parallel with this, anxiety scores were lower in prostate cancers. Special patient groups should not be neglected during this vaccine season, and their concerns should be addressed. When a new vaccine is found, it can have long-term effects, which should not be ignored.