Knowledge, attitudes and practices of prevention for cervical cancer and breast cancer among medical students

Abstract

Objective To assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of medical students for health promotion, primary prevention and early detection of breast neoplasm and uterine cervical neoplasm, as well as to make recommendations for improving the Public Health curriculum at the Universidad de los Andes. Methodology This study utilized a survey of medical knowledge, attitudes and practices applied to fifth year Colombian medical students attending the Universidad de los Andes in the first semester of 2013. Results 64/76 students answered the surveys (response rate 84.2 % ): 62.5 % (40/64) and 37.5 % (24/64) response rates from students in their ninth and tenth semesters, respectively; and 64.1 % (41/64) and 35.9 % (23/64) response rates from female and male students, respectively. Knowledge: clinical breast exam (CBE), breast self-examination (BSE) and mammography were recommended by 95.3 % (61/64) of students, 96.9 % (62/64) of medical students and 90.7 % (58/64) of students, respectively. Attitude: the most effective tests to reduce mortality in women aged ≥ 50 years were the Papanicolaou test according to 90.6 % (58/64) of students and mammography according to 82.8 % (53/64) of students. Practice: 55.0 % (35/64) of students had received training in the guidelines and protocols for breast neoplasm and uterine cervical neoplasm screening. Discussion To promote early detection of cervical and breast cancer, knowledge, attitudes and practices must be improved to enhance clinical practices (e.g. Papanicolaou test) and medical student training guidelines or protocols for these two cancers. Overall, with induced demand and support from research communities and institutions seeking to make these improvements, we collaborate to decrease missed opportunities in medical research and Public Health.

Current Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice among Health Care Providers in OSCC Awareness: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…After removing duplicates and, in compliance with the study protocol, a detailed screening of titles and abstracts of the manuscripts was made (Figure 1). The reporting of literature review on the KAP key question showed 55 studies using SPIDER and 11 using the PICO tool, divided per categories as follows: 50 among dentists [12,, eight among physicians [66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73], and eight between dentists and physicians [74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81].…”

“…The reporting of literature review on the KAP key question showed 55 studies using SPIDER and 11 using the PICO tool, divided per categories as follows: 50 among dentists [ 12 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ], eight among physicians [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ,…”

“…Twenty-four studies were conducted in America [ 17 , 18 , 22 , 39 , 43 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 67 , 71 , 73 , 77 , 78 , 81 ], 20 in Europe [ 12 , 27 , 38 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 53 , 54 , 64 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 72 , 79 , 80 ], 17 in Asia [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 40 , 41 ,…”

“…The knowledge possessed by a medical community refers to its OSCC understanding; attitude refers to its feelings towards the disease, as well as to any preconceived ideas that it may have towards it; practice refers to the ways in which it demonstrates its knowledge and attitude through actions [ 10 ]. Understanding the levels of KAP would allow pre- and post-graduate training programs to be modified according to the needs of the medical community, focusing on the fields where there is a greater need for training [ 11 , 12 ].…”

Autoexamen de seno: conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas en mujeres de una institución de educación superior

“…Por otra parte, según la Norma técnica colombiana sobre detección temprana de cáncer de mama, se recomienda implementar estrategias educativas con las mujeres mayores de 20 años para hacerse el autoexamen de mama; asimismo, a las mujeres que estén por encima de los 50 años de edad, de manera obligatoria, se les debe practicar una mamografía de cuatro proyecciones cada dos años, independientemente de la presencia o ausencia de signos o síntomas en la mama (9)…”