Beliefs, knowledge and attitudes towards COVID-19 of the peruvian adult population in social quarantine

Ruiz-Aquino M.; Díaz-Lazo A.; Ortiz-Aguí M.L. · Revista Cubana de Enfermeria (2020)

Resumen

Introduction: In order to adopt high-impact promotional preventive actions that mitigate the risk of spreading COVID-19, it is important to obtain information on knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about it. Objective: To identify the type of beliefs, knowledge and attitudes and the relationship between these variables in relation to the COVID-19 of the peruvian adult population in social quarantine. Methods: Descriptive cross-sectional research, with a sample of 385 adults obtained by non-probabilistic snowball sampling, using the proportions formula on a population of 24,502,126 peruvian adults belonging to the five macro-regions of Peru. A questionnaire of beliefs (7 items), attitudes (7 items) and knowledge (8 items) of COVID-19 was applied, checking the hypothesis using the Chi-square test of independence. Results: The most prevalent beliefs regarding COVID-19 were: "sooner or later we are all going to die" with 91.40 % (352) of cases and "there is life after death" with 53.20 % (205). The negative attitudes towards COVID-19 were: "being healthy is a matter of chance for each person" with 90.40 % (348); "medicalization solves the problems of contagion" with 75.10 % (289). Regarding the insufficient cognitive aspects, 78.40 % (302) were unaware of the symptoms of COVID-19; 77.70 % (299) the means of transmission and 77.40 % (298) the frequency of the disease. Conclusions: There is a significant relationship between unfavorable attitudes, erroneous beliefs, and insufficient cognitive aspects in the prevention of COVID-19.

Instituciones: Universidad de Huánuco; Universidad Nacional Hermilio Valdizán