Attitudes and perceptions of the population of Havana about COVID-19

Abstract

Introduction: Any strategy designed to increase the perception of risk involves processes of change or modification of the underlying attitudes. Objective: To explore the attitudes and perceptions of the population of Havana about COVID-19. Methods: Cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out in a population of 2012 citizens of Havana who, anonymously and voluntarily, answered an online questionnaire distributed on social networks between May and June 2021. Variables on demographic characterization and those related to the object of study were used grouped into causes to which they attribute the current epidemiological situation: social, state and external. The chi-square statistical test and the corrected residuals model were used. Results: Participants from the municipalities of “Playa” (14.1%), “Plaza de la Revolución” (13.2%) and “Diez de Octubre” (12.7%) were the most frequent. The 3 predominant causes according to more than 80 % were “Violation of social distancing”, “Breakdown of social discipline” and “Celebration and festivities”. Of the state dimension, violations of social distancing, opening of airports and elimination of active investigations stood out. 43.5 % of the responses to 14 of the 32 indicated by those surveyed are related to the population's low perception of risk. Conclusions: It is not possible to attribute the epidemiological situation due to COVID-19 in Havana, only to the low perception of risk in society; This is a multicausal phenomenon with causes attributed to state action / inaction and social behavior.