Introduction:

More than a year after the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of infections and deaths is still beyond the control of hospital management. In addition to fear, myths, beliefs, self-medication and inadequate risk perception in the population have increased.

Objective:

To identify the perception of risk, self-medication, myths and prevention beliefs regarding COVID-19 in adult heads of household in the Gregorio Albarracin district of Tacna in 2020.

Method:

A survey was administered to a representative sample of 250 heads of household residing in the Gregorio Albarracin district.

Results:

The total average of the group in risk perception expressed as a percentage was 60.96% (59.81-62.11) out of a total expected ideal of 100%. The perception of "being at risk in the pandemic" is low. Only 15.20% adhered to strict home isolation when instructed to do so. The 14.8% self-medicated and in this group, the products used were ivermectin (48.6%) and chlorine dioxide (45.9%). The most frequent myths and beliefs were "spraying with alcohol or chlorine kills the virus" "home remedies can cure or prevent coronavirus"; there were differences according to age (p<0.05) and educational level (p<0.001).

Conclusions:

self-medication was strongly associated with high-risk perception (p<0.001) and presence of myths and beliefs (p<0.001). Educational level was highly associated with the presence of myths and beliefs (p<0.001).