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Awareness of the European Code Against Cancer of Family Medicine Residents and Nursing and Medicine Students in Spain

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Abstract

Health professionals and students in training are key for early diagnosis of cancer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the awareness of Family Medicine (FM) residents and Medicine and Nursing undergraduate students in Spain regarding the European Code Against Cancer (ECAC). This was a descriptive, cross-sectional, and multicenter study. Location: Teaching Units of FM of Cordoba and Ceuta and Schools of Medicine and Nursing of the Universities of Cordoba and Francisco de Vitoria of Madrid (Spain). Participants: residents of FM and Medicine and Nursing undergraduate Spanish students. Intervention: self-administered questionnaire to assess the awareness about the ECAC. A total of 651 subjects participated (52.4% [95% CI 48.5–56.2] Nursing students, 34% [95% CI 30.3–37.6] Medicine students, and 13.6% [95% CI 11.0–16.3] FM residents). Of the total subjects participated, 74.8% were women. Mean age: 22.34 years (standard deviation, 4.68; range, 18–52; 95% CI, 21.98–22.70). A total of 76.8% (95% CI 73.5–80.1) declared to be unaware of the ECAC. Those referring to be aware of the ECAC mainly knew it through degree subjects (7.5% [95% CI 5.5.5–9.6]). Residents of FM (p < 0.001), older participants (p < 0.001), and those belonging to the Teaching Units (p = 0.002) showed a better awareness of the ECAC. Our findings reveal the unawareness on the ECAC in three out of four participants. The access to the advice described in the ECAC through the Medicine and Nursing Schools and FM Teaching Units is poor. The awareness of the ECAC of postgraduate residents is higher than that the awareness of the undergraduate students.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to all the study participants and members of the coordinating organism of the PAPPS and the Spanish Society of Medicine of Family and Community (semFYC) for supporting this project. The authors thank Nutraceutical Translations for translating and editing this manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto Maimónides de Investigación Biomédica de Córdoba (IMIBIC), Hospital Universitario Reina Sofía, Universidad de Córdoba, Avda. Menéndez Pidal s/n, 14011, Córdoba, Spain

    Luis Ángel Pérula-de Torres, Esperanza Romero-Rodríguez, Roger Ruiz-Moral, Celia Jiménez-García & Antonio Ranchal-Sanchez

  2. Unidad Docente Multiprofesional de Atención Familiar y Comunitaria de Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain

    Luis Ángel Pérula-de Torres & José Ignacio Moscosio-Cuevas

  3. Grupo de Evaluación y mejora del Programa de Actividades Preventivas y de Promoción de la Salud (PAPPS), de la Sociedad Española de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria (semFYC), Barcelona, Spain

    Luis Ángel Pérula-de Torres & Esperanza Romero-Rodríguez

  4. Boston University School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA

    Esperanza Romero-Rodríguez

  5. Universidad Francisco de Vitoria, Madrid, Spain

    Roger Ruiz-Moral

  6. Distrito Sanitario Córdoba y Guadalquivir, Córdoba, Spain

    Celia Jiménez-García

  7. Teaching Unit of Family and Community Medicine of Ceuta, Ceuta, Spain

    Sara Palenzuela-Paniagua

  8. Group of the Adolescent, Andalusian Society of Family and Community Medicine (SAMFyC), Calle Al-Andalus, 21, 14011, Córdoba, Spain

    Sara Palenzuela-Paniagua

Authors
  1. Luis Ángel Pérula-de Torres
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  2. Esperanza Romero-Rodríguez
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  3. José Ignacio Moscosio-Cuevas
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  4. Roger Ruiz-Moral
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  5. Celia Jiménez-García
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  6. Antonio Ranchal-Sanchez
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  7. Sara Palenzuela-Paniagua
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Correspondence to Luis Ángel Pérula-de Torres.

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Pérula-de Torres, L.Á., Romero-Rodríguez, E., Moscosio-Cuevas, J.I. et al. Awareness of the European Code Against Cancer of Family Medicine Residents and Nursing and Medicine Students in Spain. J Canc Educ 36, 1069–1074 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01736-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01736-y

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