The Predictive Role of Fear of COVID-19 and Lockdown Fatigue in Coronavirus Anxiety among Patients with Congenital Heart Disease

Background: The prevalence of coronavirus and its health-related psychological consequences such as fear and anxiety has been one of the most important health concerns in the 21^st century.

Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the predictive role of fear of COVID-19 and lockdown fatigue in coronavirus anxiety among patients with Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).

Methods: This descriptive-correlational study was conducted through path analysis. The statistical population included the patients with CHD referred to Shahid Rajaei Hospital and Tehran Heart Center, 105 of whom were selected using convenience sampling. The data were collected using the Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS), Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S), and Lockdown Fatigue Scale (LFS). The reliability and validity of these scales were approved in the previous studies. After all, the data were entered into the SPSS 21 software and were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation test and step-wise regression analysis.

Results: The study was conducted on 105 participants (6% males and 94% females) aged 20 to above 41 years. Considering marital status, 5% of the participants were single, 94% were married, and 1% were divorced. In addition, the participants’ education levels ranged from diploma and lower degrees to postgraduate and higher degrees. According to the findings, coronavirus anxiety was positively correlated to the fear of COVID-19 (r = 0.509,  P = 0.000) and lockdown fatigue (r = 0.466, P = 0.000) in patients with CHD. The results of step-wise regression analysis showed that based on the calculated coefficient of determination, 31% of the variability of coronavirus anxiety could be explained by the fear of COVID-19 and lockdown fatigue.

Conclusions: The study findings indicated that the fear of COVID-19 and lockdown fatigue could predict coronavirus anxiety. Therefore, interventions are recommended to be designed based on the introduction of programs concerning coronavirus anxiety, which may help reduce the anxiety and fear experienced by these patients. They can also be used as prevention programs to help prevent the onset of coronavirus anxiety in patients with CHD.