Knowledge of risk factors for gynecological cancers among medical and pharmacy students at the university of Lomé, Togo: a prospective cross-sectional study from 1 to 31 September 2021.

Abstract

Introduction: Gynecological cancers are often diagnosed at a late stage in Togo, due to difficulty of access to means of screening and a lack of technical platform. The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge of medical and pharmacy students at the University of Lomé about the risk factors for gynaecological cancers.

Methodology: This was a cross-sectional prospective study with a descriptive and analytical aim, carried out among undergraduate to doctoral students regularly enrolled at the Faculty of Health Sciences. The variables studied were as follows: the socio-demographic characteristics of the students, namely age, gender, field of study (medicine or pharmacy), study cycle (bachelor, master or doctorate), the fact of having completed an internship in the obstetrics gynecology department; the notion of education on gynecological cancers and sources of information and finally knowledge of the risk factors for gynecological cancers.

Results: A total of 640 students correctly completed the form. The mean age was 24.66 ± 2.7 years. The sex ratio (M/F) was 2.5. The students had a good knowledge of the risk factors for cervical cancer. Indeed 56.6% (n = 362) knew the risk factors of the cervical cancer; but knowledge of risk factors of ovarian, endometrial, vaginal, and vulvar cancers was low. The main source of information was the courses at the Faculty of Health Sciences. Factors associated with knowledge of risk factors of cervical cancer were age (p-value = 0.0002), female gender (p-value = 0.0001; ORa = 2.46; 95% CI [1.31-3.36]) and the fact of having followed a course on cervical cancer (p-value = 0.0073; ORa = 1.68; 95% CI [1.25-32.08]). Having done an internship in the gynecology department was the only factor associated with knowing the risk factors for ovarian cancer (p-value = 0.00001; ORa = 2.29; 95% CI [1,64-2.72]) and endometrial cancer (p-value = 0.0045; RCa = 2.63; 95% CI [1.56-3.07]).

Conclusion: The knowledge of risk factors of the gynecological cancer by the students of the Faculty of Health Sciences is relatively low, varying according to the type of cancer. More than half of the students knew the risk factors for cervical cancer. However, risk factors for ovarian, endometrial, vaginal and vulvar cancers were not sufficiently known by the students. It appears to promote self-learning for an improvement of this knowledge.

Trial registration: Not applicable.