Health Perception and Healthy Life Awareness during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Turkey Profile Study

BACKGROUND: The perception of health, which is the combination of personal feelings, thoughts, prejudices, and expectations regarding the individual's health, is closely related to healthy life awareness. OBJECTIVES: This research examines the relationship between health perception and healthy life awareness of individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic and the influencing factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study has been carried out in Turkey from July to October 2020. The population of the research is the people who live in Turkey. The sample comprises 1752 participants who met the research criteria and were selected through a stratified sampling method. The study data were collected using the Sociodemographic Characteristics Form, Perception of Health Scale, and Healthy Life Awareness Scale. RESULTS: The participants' mean score from the Perception of Health Scale was 51.67 ± 6.72, and the mean score from the Healthy Life Awareness Scale was 57.84 ± 7.14. A statistically moderate positive correlation was found between the perception of health and healthy life awareness. CONCLUSIONS: A higher level of perception of health was found in the participants who live in the Marmara region, have postgraduate education, are single, and have more income than their expenses. It was also found that, among the participants, those who live in the Marmara region, aged 29-39, are female, have a postgraduate education, are married, have more income than expenses, and have a higher level of healthy life awareness. It was found that as the health perception of individuals increases, their understanding of healthy life also increases during the COVID-19 pandemic period.