Academic Unit of Chemical Sciences, Autonomous University of Zacatecas, Jardín Juárez 147, Centro, Zacatecas, Zac, 98000, Mexico.
National Council of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies (CONAHCYT), Insurgentes Sur Avenue # 1582, Credito Constructor, Mexico City, 03940, Mexico.
BMC Med Educ. 2024 Oct 14;24(1):1138. doi: 10.1186/s12909-024-05914-0.
Identifying and recognizing environmental risk factors for childhood cancer is crucial to prevent it. Medical guild are the first contact to monitor children's health. Therefore, courses about the contribution of chemical toxins in the environment and health outcomes such as cancer should be included in their professional training. This study aimed to evaluate the perceptions and attitudes of a medical guild and undergraduate students in health sciences about the contribution of the environment to childhood cancer.
A pilot study was conducted, an online survey including thirteen questions was shared among medical guild members and undergraduate students in health sciences. Frequencies, percentages, and chi-square homogeneity tests were calculated to compare groups.
Genetic factors ranked as the first possible cause of childhood cancer (88.2% medical guild and 97.7% undergraduate students). However, 70.6% of medical guild and 64.6% of undergraduate students reported that they have ever suspected that childhood cancer could be related to the environmental conditions in which children live. More than 95% of the participants reported that they would find it useful to have more knowledge about environmental risks and cancer. When data were analyzed by profession (medical guild) and academic year (undergraduate students), no significant differences were observed. Nonetheless, comparisons by academic discipline between undergraduate students, showed that a higher percentage of medicine and environmental sciences and health (over 98%) reported environmental exposure as risk factors associated with childhood cancer compared to 75% from physiotherapy, (p = 0.001).
In this study, the environmental contribution to childhood cancer is not clear among the medical guild and undergraduate students. They should be trained on the topic of cancer and the environment.
识别和认识儿童癌症的环境风险因素对于预防癌症至关重要。医疗协会是监测儿童健康的第一接触点。因此，应该在他们的专业培训中纳入有关环境中化学毒素的贡献以及癌症等健康结果的课程。本研究旨在评估医学协会和健康科学专业的本科生对环境对儿童癌症的贡献的看法和态度。
进行了一项试点研究，向医学协会成员和健康科学专业的本科生在线共享了包含 13 个问题的调查。计算了频率、百分比和卡方同质性检验，以比较组间差异。
遗传因素被认为是儿童癌症的首要可能原因（医学协会 88.2%，本科生 97.7%）。然而，70.6%的医学协会成员和 64.6%的本科生报告说，他们曾怀疑儿童癌症可能与儿童生活的环境条件有关。超过 95%的参与者表示，他们将发现更多有关环境风险和癌症的知识很有用。按专业（医学协会）和学术年级（本科生）分析数据时，未观察到显著差异。然而，对本科生的学科进行比较时，显示出更高比例的医学、环境科学和健康专业（超过 98%）报告环境暴露是与儿童癌症相关的风险因素，而物理治疗专业的比例为 75%（p=0.001）。
在这项研究中，医学协会成员和本科生对环境对儿童癌症的贡献并不清楚。他们应该接受有关癌症和环境的培训。
