Percepción sobre las vacunas y nivel de conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas hacia la COVID-19 en adultos mayores de Lima, Perú

Claudia L. Vidal-Cuéllar; Omar F. Zanoni-Ramos; Guiliana Mas; Tania Tello-Rodríguez

doi:10.17843/rpmesp.2022.392.10847

Authors

Claudia L. Vidal-Cuéllar Instituto de Gerontología, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. Médico cirujano https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3322-0803
Omar F. Zanoni-Ramos Instituto de Gerontología, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. Médico cirujano https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0371-209X
Guiliana Mas Instituto de Gerontología, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. médico internista https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3276-5759
Tania Tello-Rodríguez Instituto de Gerontología, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. Hospital Cayetano Heredia, Lima, Perú. médico geriatra https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5087-4193

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17843/rpmesp.2022.392.10847

Keywords:

COVID-19, Aged, Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice, COVID-19 Vaccines

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the perception about vaccines and the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices towards COVID-19 in older adults from a hospital in Lima, Peru. Descriptive and cross-sectional study carried out from March to November 2021. An instrument was adapted and validated to
measure the level of knowledge, attitudes and practices; the perception about vaccines was evaluated with an exploratory questionnaire. Eighty-three older adults were surveyed, the mean age was 74.0 years and 62.7% were women. Most of the participants knew the cause and symptoms, and 50.6% believed that
it could be transmitted by contaminated food. Additionally, 61.7% used traditional medicine to prevent it, and 65.4% considered that the level of social awareness was insufficient; 91.5% were vaccinated against COVID-19, and 65.4% considered these vaccines to be safe. In conclusion, most older adults showed a high level of knowledge, attitudes and practices and a positive perception about the vaccine against COVID-19.