Department of Management, Faculty of Management, Atılım University, Gölbaşı, Ankara 06830, Turkey.
Department of Chest Disease, Faculty of Medicine, Atılım University, Gölbaşı, Ankara 06830, Turkey.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Jan 5;19(1):578. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010578.
Chronic diseases served as a silent global epidemic before the pandemic, and individuals living with chronic disease now form one of the groups most affected by COVID-19. This study aims to determine the problems that employees with chronic disease face during the COVID-19 pandemic. As part of the study, data were collected from 952 individuals who live with chronic disease in Turkey. Of these, 76.6% of respondents worked for the public sector, a large majority of whom (67.7%) have worked full time during the COVID-19 pandemic. It was found that the COVID-19 fear level of employees living with chronic disease was higher than moderate (21.061 ± 7.607). When the variables affecting the COVID-19 fear level are listed in order of relative significance, eating problems, residing in the Mediterranean region, having asthma, and working as a female employee made the greatest impact, respectively. Necessary conditions of work should be provided to those living with chronic disease who could adapt themselves to working flexibly or working from home, so that they would not feel isolated from business life. This group should be provided with essential protective equipment, their working conditions must be reviewed and vaccination priority could be given to them.
慢性疾病在大流行之前是一场无声的全球流行，现在患有慢性疾病的人是受 COVID-19 影响最大的群体之一。本研究旨在确定患有慢性疾病的员工在 COVID-19 大流行期间面临的问题。作为研究的一部分，从土耳其的 952 名患有慢性疾病的个体中收集了数据。其中，76.6%的受访者在公共部门工作，其中绝大多数（67.7%）在 COVID-19 大流行期间全职工作。结果发现，患有慢性疾病的员工对 COVID-19 的恐惧程度高于中度（21.061±7.607）。当按相对重要性列出影响 COVID-19 恐惧程度的变量时，分别是饮食问题、居住在地中海地区、患有哮喘和作为女性员工的影响最大。应向能够灵活工作或在家工作的慢性疾病患者提供必要的工作条件，使他们不会感到与商业生活脱节。应向该群体提供必要的防护设备，必须审查他们的工作条件，并优先为他们接种疫苗。
