Did covid-19 anxiety cause a delay in the patients’ decision to be operated on for lung malignancy?

Background: With the COVID-19 pandemic, "corona anxiety and phobia" negatively affect people in various fields which can lead patients to delay even their lung cancer operations. It was investigated whether the reason was COVID-19 phobia in patients who wanted to postpone lung surgery, and it was aimed to evaluate the COVID-19 anxiety scores in these patients. Materials and Methods: Between April 2020 and January 2022, the data of patients who were recommended to be operated on due to lung malignancy, but who reported that they wanted to postpone the surgery were analyzed retrospectively. The patients were contacted by phone and questioned whether the reasons for the postponement were the COVID-19 pandemic. The patients were evaluated in the context of the “Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS)” and their anxiety scores and reasons for delay were analyzed with CAS scores. Results: Of the 122 patients who were recommended to be operated on due to lung malignancy, 90 were operated on, while 32 patients (26.2%) postponed the operation. The mean surgery delay time was 11.59 ± 7.13 months, it was detected that the mean anxiety score was 2.47 ± 2.46 (0-9) points. The average anxiety score of those who answered “no” to the questionnaire was 0.79 points, those who answered “partially” had 2.69 points, and those who answered “yes” were 6.60 points. The CAS score was significantly higher in patients who reported that they postponed their surgeries mainly due to COVID-19 (p