ABSTRACT

To determine the level of COVID-19 fear among Turkish medical students, and show the relationship the types of education (online, hybrid, face to face), age, gender, grade, and level of fear.

The study was conducted with 536 medical students from 30 different universities in Turkey. The questionnaire comprised 1 open-ended and 6 multiple choice questions for assessment of the demographic structure, in addition to 7 Likert-type questions within the 'Fear of COVID-19 Scale'.

Participants comprised 352 (65.7%) female and 184 (34.3%) male students, with a mean age of 20.04 ± 2.59 years and they showed significantly different Fear of COVID-19 Scale scores with regard to gender. The past or current presence of COVID-19 was determined as another variable that created a significant difference in the Fear of COVID-19 Scale scores. However, no relation between the past or current presence of COVID-19 in a family member and the Fear of COVID-19 Scale scores were found.

In this study, it is demonstrated that fear of COVID-19 is higher among females and non-infected medical students compared to males and infected ones, respectively. These results can be used in assessing the fear level of COVID-19 among medical students concerning their gender their gender and infection history.

Keywords: COVID-19, medical students, fear, distance education, medical education