ABSTRACT
Knowledge is key to face any disease, but there are few baseline studies from the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The objective was to determine the association between being a vulnerable population and the low knowledge of the population in 17 Peruvian cities at the beginning of the pandemic. Knowledge was measured using a nine-question scale, which asks about the mechanism, symptoms and consequences;this was crosschecked against socio-demographic variables using analytical statistics. Of the 3913 respondents, the lowest knowledge was about how to react to cold symptoms and what treatment a person with an initial non-severe coronavirus infection should follow (37% and 53% correct answers;respectively). In the multivariate analysis, those who had lower percentages of a poor level of knowledge of the disease were those with higher education (aPR: 0.74;95%CI: 0.62-0.88;p-value=0.001), among those with some postgraduate studies (aPR: 0.59;95%CI: 0.43-0.68;p-value<0.001), among those who were part of the health personnel (aPR: 0.15;95%CI: 0.05-0.46;p-value=0.001) and among women (aPR: 0.84;95%CI: 0.73-0.96;p-value=0.009), on the other hand, the older the age, the worse the level of knowledge of the disease (aPR: 1.012;95%CI: 1.005-1.018;p-value=0.001), adjusted by 4 variables. There was a low level of knowledge in some aspects and this is associated with some specific characteristics according to being considered a vulnerable population. © 2021 Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Publica. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
At the beginning of the pandemic, an excessive purchase of some products was observed, but this has not been evaluated if it is related to mental health. Therefore, the objective was to determine the factors associated with the purchase of basic necessities in the Peruvian population at the beginning of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. An analytical cross-sectional study was carried out, based on a secondary data analysis. Information from 3379 Peruvians from all regions was used, they were asked about the purchases they made, crossing these with the results of the "KNOW-P-COVID-19", "F-COVID-19" and "MED-COVID-19" scales;obtaining descriptive and analytical results. The most purchased products were disinfectant (43.9%), followed by soap (43.6%) and alcohol (40.8%). In the multivariate analysis, the purchase of disinfectants (p=0.009), soap (p<0.001) and alcohol (p=0.002) was found to be associated with sex;the purchase of personal protective equipment (p=0.027), antibacterial gel (p=0.010) and face masks (p=0.015) was associated with age;to the fatalism score the purchase of food (p=0.005), personal protective equipment (p<0.001), soap (p=0.014), alcohol (p=0.043) and face masks (p<0.001);to the score of fears and concern conveyed by the media the purchase of personal protective equipment (p=0.007), soap (p<0.001) and face masks (p=0.005) and to the score of knowledge of the disease the purchase of soap (p<0.001), antibacterial gel (p=0.011) and toilet paper (p=0.009). Significant associations were found with the purchase of supplies (p<0.011). © 2021 Instituto de Altos Estudios de Salud Publica. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Introduction: It is important to assess the popular perception of the impact of the measures taken by governments in response to the fast spread of the coronavirus. Objective: Determine the perception of the public health measures implemented by the Peruvian government to stop the spread of COVID-19. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional analytical study was conducted based on a virtual survey applied to more than 4 000 people across the country. Results: The vast majority of respondents agreed that COVID-19 is a serious epidemic / pandemic (47% in agreement and 42% very much in agreement). However, only 22%, 21%, 17% and 46% thought that the country, the health sector, the hospitals and the doctors, respectively, were prepared to face it. The most widely supported migration measures were border closure (68% very much in agreement) and denying entrance to travelers returning from China or other countries with high rates of coronavirus infection (60% very much in agreement). Respondents agreed that mass gatherings should not be held for a while (69% very much in agreement), a figure followed by those proposing to declare a public health emergency (61% very much in agreement) and the closure of colleges and universities for some time (50% very much in agreement). Many statistical associations of these perceptions were found, according to sex, age or educational level (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The population supports most of the measures, those related to socioeducational characteristics receiving greater support. © 2021, Editorial Ciencias Medicas. All rights reserved.