THE SURVEY ON THE EFFECTS OF PERCEPTION OF HEALTH ON HEALTH ANXIETY IN INDIVIDUALS

Abstract

Perception of health is the evaluation of the individual’s biological, psychological and social situation. Perception of health, which is a subjective assessment, reflects the value given to “health” and the attitudes and approach to “illness”. False interpretation of the person’s health, overreacting to physical symptoms, anxiety and turning his health into an obsession is the explanation of health anxiety. Although low perception of health is known to trigger health anxiety, there are many factors affecting the health perception and health anxiety of the individual. The goal is to observe the variables of these two concepts and their effects on each other in a pandemic environment which is outside the ordinary conditions. For the study, it was aimed to measure the perceived health and health anxiety of individuals residing in Istanbul between the ages of 18-60, also taking into account of the socio-demographic variables during the covid-19 pandemic period. It was planned to reach 400 people by using the personal information form, the "health perception scale" and the "health anxiety inventory”, and 401 people were reached through the Google survey application. Data were analyzed using SPSS version 27.0 showing, Regression analysis and health perception were found to be negatively related to health anxiety. After the study, it was concluded that the age, gender and social status of the individuals affected especially their health anxiety, however their education level significantly affected their health perceptions. It has been observerd that the Covid-19 virus causing fatal results in individuals with chronic diseases increased the health anxiety of participants with chronic diseases in their families.