Introduction:

Gastric cancer is one of the most lethal cancers; therefore, a high level of knowledge about its prevention is essential in the training of future physicians.

Objective:

To determine the epidemiological and educational factors associated with the level of knowledge of gastric cancer prevention among medical interns from a private university in Lima, Peru.

Materials and methods:

Analytical cross-sectional study conducted in 319 medical interns enrolled in 2020 and 2021 at the Faculty of Human Medicine of the Universidad Ricardo Palma. Participants' information was collected using surveys. In addition, their socioeconomic status and level of knowledge were measured using the Graffar classification and the knowledge test on gastric cancer prevention, previously validated in a health care center from Lima (Cron-bach's Alpha: 0.84), respectively. A bivariate and a multivariate analysis were performed using a Poisson regression model, calculating prevalence ratios (PR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) and a significance level of p<0.05.

Results:

The level of knowledge was high in 53.92% of medical interns. In the multivariate analysis, a significant association was found between having a high level of knowledge about gastric cancer prevention and the following variables: planning to enroll in a surgical specialty (aPR: 1.43, 95%CI: 1.13-1.81; p=0.003) and having a socioeconomic status at levels I-II (aPR: 1.58, 95%CI: 1.26-1.99; p=0.000). On the contrary, variables such as sex, age, having an immediate relative with cancer, having an immediate relative who is a physician, and attendance to cancer conferences were not significantly associated.

Conclusion:

Planning to enroll in a surgical specialty and having a I-II socioeconomic status were the only variables associated with having a high level of knowledge about gastric cancer prevention. Therefore, the Faculty of Human Medicine should develop strategies aimed at improving the level of knowledge of medical interns about this topic.

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