Effect of health anxiety on disease perception and treatment compliance in elderly patients during the COVID-19 pandemic in Turkey

PURPOSE: This study aimed to determine the effect of health anxiety experienced by elderly individuals during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on their disease perception and treatment compliance. DESIGN AND METHODS: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted between November 2020 and March 2021. The research data was collected using the Patient Information Form, Health Anxiety Scale (HAS), Disease Perception Scale-Short Form (DPS-SF) and Turkish Modified Morisky Treatment Compliance Scale (MMTCS). RESULTS: Of the 401 study participants, 63.1% were in the 65–69 years age group. The mean HAS, DPS-SF and MMTCS motivation and knowledge level sub-dimension scores of the participants were 18.73 ± 8.87, 54.24 ± 9.98, 1.28 ± 0.74 and 2.04 ± 0.92, respectively. CONCLUSION: The results of this study showed that the health anxiety and disease perception scores were high among elderly individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic, which hindered their treatment compliance.