IS THERE A CHANGE IN OCCUPATIONAL BALANCE AND QUALITY OF LIFE OF UNIVERSITY STAFF WITH OR WITHOUT COVID-19?

Purpose: During the COVID-19 pandemic, occupational balance, and quality of life (QoL) were affected by many professions, and university staff were faced with changing living conditions experienced due to the pandemic. The aim of study is to investigate whether these new situations cause changes in occupational balance and QoL in university personnel with and without COVID-19. Material and Methods: The Turkish Occupational Balance Questionnaire 11 (OBQ11-T) was used to evaluate occupational balance in university staff, and the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQoL) was used to evaluate the QoL. Participants who had COVID-19 were accepted as the study group and participants who hadn’t COVID-19 were included in the control group. Independent t-tests and Kruskal-Wallis tests were used in the statistical analysis of the data. Results and Conclusions: The compassion satisfaction subscale of ProQoL scores of university staff who had COVID-19 were found to be significantly lower than those of the control group (p=0.038). The burnout level of the COVID-19-positive academic staff was significantly higher than the administrative staff (p=0.028). OBQ11-T scores were found to be significantly lower in males with COVID-19 compared to females with COVID-19 (p=0.043). Occupational balance and QoL scores were affected in university staff who had COVID-19.