Abstract
ObjectiveTo assess the prevalence of recently graduated physicians who perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform Papanicolaou (PAP), Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), and Visual Inspection with Lugol´s Iodine (VILI); and study its associated factors, in Lima, Peru.MethodsThis cross-sectional study evaluated recently graduated physicians from Lima, Peru. Physicians were considered to perceive themselves as adequately competent if they had answered, "agree" or "strongly agree" when asked if they were competent enough to perform these screening tests. To evaluate the associated factors, prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated using Poisson regressions with robust variance.ResultsOnly 367/432 (86.2%) physicians perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform PAP, 257 (60.5%) to perform VIA, and 247 (58.1%) to perform VILI. Physicians who performed their gynecology/obstetric clerkship at hospitals from the police or armed forces had a higher proportion of perceiving themselves as adequately competent to perform VIA and VILI.ConclusionsNine out of ten physicians perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform PAP, while six out of ten to perform VIA or VILI. The health care system in which the physicians performed their clerkship was associated with the prevalence of adequate self-perceived competence for performing VIA and VILI.
Highlights
Cervical cancer is the fourth most common cancer in women worldwide, and the second most common in developing countries [1]
In 2013, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) published the “Guidelines for screening and treatment of precancerous lesions for cervical cancer prevention” [3], which focuses on a test and treat strategy in order to achieve early diagnosis and timely treatment of these lesions
For low-income countries, these guidelines state that PAP is useful, but suggest that cervical cancer is routinely screened with Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA) instead of Papanicolaou test (PAP) and colposcopy, because VIA is less expensive, non-invasive, and requires little equipment and infrastructure [4]
Summary
To assess the prevalence of recently graduated physicians who perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform Papanicolaou (PAP), Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), and Visual Inspection with Lugols Iodine (VILI); and study its associated factors, in Lima, Peru
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