Evaluation of Adaptation to Diseases and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors of Individuals with Chronic Disease During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objective: This study evaluated the adaptation and healthy lifestyle behaviors of patients with a chronic disease during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: It is a descriptive cross-sectional design. The research was conducted at the state hospital in Istanbul between February and May 2021. The research sample comprised 175 patients treated at internal medicine outpatient clinics and diagnosed with at least one chronic disease. Researchers collected the data from the Patient Information Survey, the Adaptation to Chronic Illness Scale, and the Healthy Lifestyle Behavior Scale-II to collect the data. Results: The mean age of the group was 54.45±17.15 and mostly women (65.7%) who graduated from primary school (48.6%). Around sixty percent of the research sample (56.6%) did not follow the health check-ups regularly. The patients consumed a higher number of daily meals (19.4%) and consumed more carbohydrates (21.7%). The lowest score was obtained from the Social Adaptation sub-dimension (22.27±5.18) and the Exercise sub-dimension (15.50 ± 6.21). There was a statistically significant relationship between scores of healthy lifestyle behaviors and the adaptation scale (r=0.70, p < 0.05). Less educated, older, unemployed patients and those with lower economic status needed more support to fulfill their daily activities. Conclusions: Patients with chronic conditions face alternations in performing healthy lifestyle behaviors. The adaptation of patients with chronic diseases during the COVID-19 was negatively affected. Patients with chronic conditions need support for improving healthy lifestyle behaviors to manage the illness effectively.