COVID-19 Outbreak and Cancer Related Questions
87.7% of the participants thought that COVID-19 disease would progress more seriously in cancer patients, 10% said they were not sure. During the COVID-19 epidemic period, half of the cancer patients who were in control left the time of the control tests to their doctors, while 38.6% stated that their examinations should be done on time, although there is a risk of transmission. Half of the cancer patients who participated in the questionnaire thought that the COVID-19 outbreak did not prevent the treatment of cancer patients from continuing. However, 27.3% thought it was an obstacle. While half of patients were concerned about the continuation of cancer treatment during the outbreak, half expressed no concern. The majority of those who were concerned expressed that they were more afraid of the COVID-19 transmission than disruption of their cancer treatments. The majority of patients ( 70%) said they did not think about our question about whether you thought of delaying your cancer treatment. When asked whether your oncology doctor informed you about COVID-19 disease, 48.7% of patients said they informed us, 42% said they did not inform us. All of the patients said they wore masks when they left the house during the outbreak. The majority of patients (72.7%) stated that they came to the hospital with a companion, while 14.5% said they came alone. About 95% of patients stated they were paying attention to social distance with other people. While 82.7% of the patients thought that they took the necessary precautions to protect against the disease, 15% stated that they applied partially. During the period of the COVID-19 outbreak, the majority of cancer patients (60.9%) expressed that they did not receive supportive products (Table 4.1 and 4.2).
The relation between socio-demographic characteristics and knowledge about COVID-19 is demonstrated in table 5. Nearly similar knowledge mean scores were observed for male and female participants (9.93 ± 1.54 and 9.88 ± 1.56) with no statistically signifant difference. Also there were no statistically significant differences in information scores according to age groups and marital status (p> 0.05). In the same way, there was no statistical difference in information scores according to their marital status (p= 0.06). The knowledge mean scores were significantly related to the level of education (p<0.001). Contributors in the survey with university or higher education had significantly higher knowledge mean scores compared to those with lower levels of education. There was no statistically significant difference between the participants’ knowledge score and who they lived with and whether they were actively working or not (p>0.05).