Determination of the effect of the pre-surgery COVID-19 fear level and hygiene behaviours of the patients on the personal protective clinical measures developed after the surgery: A cross-sectional study.
Nilgün Sert Baş, Hatice Ayhan
PMID 39343988WHAT IT FOUND
Surgical patients with higher preoperative COVID-19 fear reported more hygiene behaviours, and postoperative protective behaviours were higher than preoperative hygiene.
Behaviours were self-reported, not observed.
Key findings
01Higher preoperative COVID-19 fear was associated with higher hygiene behaviours (r=0.388, p<0.001).
02Patients reported higher postoperative personal protective clinical measures than preoperative hygiene behaviours (p<0.05).
03Higher postoperative protective measures were reported by patients aged 25 to 45 years, female patients, university-educated patients, patients diagnosed with malignancy, patients hospitalized for 51 days or more, and patients who had lost a family member due to COVID-19 (p<0.05).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was single centre, so it may not apply to other hospitals or patient groups. Patients' behaviour was based on self-report and was not observed. The design was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that fear caused higher hygiene behaviours or that hospitalization caused higher protective measures. Only patients who could communicate and had ASA scores I, II, or III were included, so findings may not apply to more severely ill patients or those unable to communicate. Participation was voluntary and the sample size may be limited because surgeries were restricted during the pandemic. The postoperative protective questionnaire was created by the researchers, and only expert content opinions were reported.
Declared interests
The authors received no financial support for the research and declared no potential conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that higher fear caused protective behaviour or that patients actually followed the measures. The study was cross-sectional, relied on patient statements, and did not observe behaviour.