Sex Differences between Medical Students in the Assessment of the Fear of COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Differing expressions of the fear of COVID-19 between men and women can potentially increase both immediate and long-term physical health risks. We predicted that women students would express greater fear of COVID-19. Methods: We used an Internet-delivered Fear of COVID-19 Scale (FCV-19S) to assess fear among men (n = 100) and women (n = 272) from a larger population of academic medical center members (n = 1761). Sex differences in emotional and physical symptoms were assessed as subcategories within fear scores. Results: Women reported greater fear of COVID-19 than men (p < 0.001). Women reported greater emotional fear (p < 0.001) on specific scale items (thinking of COVID-19, watching news stories about COVID-19, and losing sleep due to fear of contracting COVID-19). Discussion/Conclusions: These results provide a better understanding of how fear of COVID-19 can differ based on sex and how that fear may be expressed differently through emotional and physical symptoms. This information will inform academic health centers of COVID-19 prevention and management policies that may include a gender-specific focus.

Research on the Design Strategy of Healing Products for Anxious Users during COVID-19

“…However, long-term living in a limited space can cause people to feel anxious [3]. Qiu et al [4] and Trapp et al [5] found that people are more prone to anxiety during travel restrictions. Specifically, women are more prone to anxiety than men, and people aged 18 to 30 and over 60 are more prone to anxiety.…”

“…Consistency testing: the calculation results are checked according to the consistency relation (C.R. ), as shown in Equation (5).…”