EVALUATION OF COVID-19 FEAR AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN PATIENTS WITH HEMATOPOIETIC STEM CELL TRANSPLANTATION DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

OBJECTIVE: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has an impact on physical health, but also has effects on mental health. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of fear increases and fear triggers many psychological diseases such as depression. We aimed to determine the COVID-19 fear situation in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients and to examine its relationship with the quality of life. METHODOLOGY: In this prospective study, 64 patients who underwent HSCT during the pandemic (between 11 March 2020 and 31 December 2020) were included. The COVID-19 fear situation was evaluated with the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). Quality of life was evaluated with the European Organization for Quality of Life Research and Treatment Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) (version 3). RESULTS: The median FCV-19S score was 16.5 (12.0-22.0). The FCV-19S score was significantly higher in urban residents than rural residents (19.0 (15.0-23.5) vs 14.0 (9.0-22.0) (p=0.44). The general health score was 59.64 ± 20.04. The strongest positive correlation between fear level and quality of life was found in emotional function (r=0.474, p <0.01). In addition, a weak, significant, positive correlation was observed between role function, nausea-vomiting, pain, anorexia, and fear level. CONCLUSION: FCV-19S is a short, safe and valid tool that can be used to determine the COVID-19 fear level in vulnerable patient groups such as HSCT patients and to direct them to the necessary psycho-oncological support.