Factors Affecting Social Stigma and Health-Seeking Behavior in COVID-19 Survivors: A Field Study in the West of Turkey

Authors : Hülya Arslantaş, Hatice Öner, Nermin Koruklu, Rahime Aslan, Ezgi Sarı

Pages : 1-20

Doi:10.30803/adusobed.1575130

View : 64 | Download : 39

Publication Date : 2025-06-22

Article Type : Research Paper

Abstract :This study was conducted to determine factors affecting social stigma and Health-Seeking Behavior in individuals who had remain alive COVID-19. The sample of this cross-sectional study consisted of 257 individuals who had remain alive COVID-19 and were selected by using the snowball sampling method. Data were collected by using a “Personal Information Form,” “The Social Stigma Questionnaire (SSQ)” and “The Health-Seeking Behavior Scale (HSBS)”. The mean and standard deviation of the total scores of the participants obtained from the SSQ questionnaire were 49.23±31.36, and the mean and standard deviation of the total scores obtained from the HSBS scale were 41.84±7.78. There was a statistically important difference between the mean SSQ and HSBS points of participants who had remain alive COVID-19 and variables, such as being female, being single, having university-level education, having a family member with a chronic disease, witnessing someone exposed to social negativity due to their disease, displaying stigmatizing attitudes towards someone infected with COVID-19, ability to determine behaviors that are harmful to health, worrying about health, and having a high risk of contracting a serious illness (p<.05). A moderate, important positive correlation was found between mean points on the SSQ and the HSBS (r=.504; p.001). In line with these results, it is recommended that individuals be informed about viruses that cause pandemics such as COVID-19 and that measures be taken to prevent stigmatization.
Keywords : COVID-19, Sosyal Damgalama, Sağlık, Davranış

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