The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has an impact on physical health, but also has effects on mental health. With the COVID-19 pandemic, the level of fear increases and fear triggers many psychological diseases such as depression. We aimed to determine the COVID-19 fear situation in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) patients and to examine its relationship with the quality of life.

In this prospective study, 64 patients who underwent HSCT during the pandemic (between 11 March 2020 and 31 December 2020) were included. The COVID-19 fear situation was evaluated with the Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S). Quality of life was evaluated with the European Organization for Quality of Life Research and Treatment Core Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) (version 3).

The median FCV-19S score was 16.5 (12.0-22.0). The FCV-19S score was significantly higher in urban residents than rural residents (19.0 (15.0-23.5) vs 14.0 (9.0-22.0) (p=0.44). The general health score was 59.64 ± 20.04. The strongest positive correlation between fear level and quality of life was found in emotional function (r=0.474, p <0.01). In addition, a weak, significant, positive correlation was observed between role function, nausea-vomiting, pain, anorexia, and fear level.

FCV-19S is a short, safe and valid tool that can be used to determine the COVID-19 fear level in vulnerable patient groups such as HSCT patients and to direct them to the necessary psycho-oncological support.