The relationship between perception of COVID‐19, fear of COVID‐19 and self‐care management in individuals with chronic diseases during the pandemic process in Turkey.

Aims: To determine the relationship between perception of COVID‐19, fear of COVID‐19 and self‐care management in individuals with chronic diseases during the pandemic process. Background: Individuals with chronic diseases are a sensitive group during the COVID‐19 pandemic process; it is thought that self‐care management may be adversely affected as a result of their more intense exposure to the psychological, physiological and economic effects of the pandemic. In the literature, there is no study examining the effect of perception of COVID‐19 and fear of COVID‐19 on self‐care management in individuals with chronic diseases. Design: Descriptive study. Methods: The study was conducted with 322 individuals who applied to the internal medicine outpatient clinics of a university's Health Practice and Research Center, met the inclusion criteria, agreed to participate in the study and had a chronic disease. Questionnaire form, Perception of COVID‐19 Scale (P‐COVID‐19), The Fear of COVID‐19 Scale (FCV‐19S) and Self‐Care Management Process in Chronic Illness Scale (SCMP‐G) were used to collect data. STROBE checklist was used to report the present study. Results: In the study, it can be stated that individuals with chronic diseases had a moderate to the high perception of contagiousness and dangerousness of COVID‐19, they had a moderate‐high level of fear of COVID‐19 and their self‐care care management was above moderate level. There was a significant positive correlation between P‐COVID‐19, FCV‐19S and SCMP‐G in the study. Conclusions: It was found that the perception of COVID‐19 contagiousness and the fear of COVID‐19 had a positive effect on the self‐care management of individuals with chronic diseases. Relevance to clinical practice: Determining the level of COVID‐19 perception and fear of COVID‐19 and their effects on the life of the individual, and evaluating self‐care management during the difficult pandemic process will increase the success in the holistic nursing care and management of chronic diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]