Fear of the fall of space objects in people of rural communities of the district of Azangaro, Peru

Abstract

The present study reports the fear scales, in adults over 18 years of age, caused by the fall of propellant tanks from outer space, considered as space debris, that occurred on January 27, 2018, in the communities of Larancahuani, Ninanuyo, Tiramaza, and Bellavista in the Azangaro district, Peru. 49 surveys with 6 items were applied to the residents surrounding the affected areas, using the fear inventory, in addition, the principal component analysis technique was applied to describe a set of information in terms of other variables that are not correlated in terms of least squares. The results show a reliability index of the items of 0.78, which implies the existence of internal consistency of the items. The first factor on affective symptoms: fear of staying overnight during the following nights is associated with a coefficient of 0.855; while the item Fear of the appearance of new diseases in people is positively related with a coefficient of 0.777; finally, the item fear of headaches and dizziness and fear of anxiety, depression, and panic are positively associated with 0.865 and 0.887 with factor 2, which are physical symptoms, which can even alter the development of daily activities of the inhabitants.