Conocimientos, actitudes y prácticas en cáncer bucal para estudiantes de enfermería de últimos semestres y recién egresados

Abstract

Introduction: Oral cancer is a chronic non-communicable malignant neoplasm that develops rapidly, aggressively and silently, comprising one of the tumors that alter the health of the human being, this public health problem has increased its incidence in recent years. Objective: To evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and practices about oral cancer in nursing students in their last semesters and recent graduates, in the year 2022. Materials and methods: Observational, analytical cross-sectional study, with a population sample of 127 participating nursing students. nursing and recent graduates, the data collection was carried out through a survey created on the Google Forms platform of 25 questions, the level of attitudes, knowledge and practices of the participants was calculated through a univariate analysis through absolute frequencies with their percentages and bivariate with the application of the chi2 and Fisher's exact tests. Results: The majority of the participants were women in 81.89% (104), aged between 18 to 22 years in 49.61% (63), from stratum 3 in 33.86% (43) and of the sixth semester by 31.50% (40). Regarding the level of knowledge, 82.68% (105) and attitudes, 61.42% (78) presented a regular level, on the other hand, in the practices it was good in 49.61% (63). There were no statistically significant associations between the sections and the sociodemographic variables because they presented p>0.05 values. Conclusions: It is important that nursing students have the necessary skills to have an adequate approach regarding the knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the management of oral cancer in a timely manner.