Evaluation of COVID-19 fear and sleep quality in individuals with epilepsy: a cross-sectional study

Purpose: The study was carried out to determine the COVID-19 fear and sleep quality of people with epilepsy. Methods: The data of this descriptive study were collected from November 2021 to February 2022 with 92 people with epilepsy in the neurology department of a hospital in eastern Türkiye. The Descriptive Information Form, Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and COVID-19 Fear Scale were used to collect the data for the study. Results: The mean COVID-19 score of people with epilepsy was found to be 13.55 ± 7.95, and the mean sleep quality score was 1.67 ± 1.69. Significant differences were detected in the mean fear scores of people with epilepsy according to their working status and perceived health status. It was also found that there was a significant correlation between the duration of epilepsy and sleep quality (p < 0.05). No significant differences were detected between the seizure types, number of seizures, number of medications used, presence of comorbid diseases, and fear and sleep quality (p > 0.05). No significant relations were detected between the sleep scale and its subcomponents and the COVID-19 Fear Scale (p > 0.05). Conclusion: It was found that the COVID-19 fear levels of people with epilepsy were at a moderate level and their sleep quality was good.