[Evaluation of knowledge about childhood cancer among health professionals in five cities of ColombiaAvaliação do conhecimento sobre o câncer infantil entre profissionais de saúde de cinco cidades da Colômbia].

OBJECTIVE

To assess primary health care professionals' knowledge regarding the timely detection of childhood cancer in five priority cities in Colombia.

METHODS

Descriptive cross-sectional study with an analytical component, of 141 nursing, general medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics professionals in five of the Colombian cities with the highest rates of mortality due to this cause. A multivariate analysis was performed to predict the percentage of success obtained on each section of the test and overall.

RESULTS

There is variability in childhood cancer knowledge among cities and professions. Fifty percent of the participants showed a good level of knowledge. The nursing group exhibited the lowest average score relative to the other participants. The lowest scores were observed in the city of Valledupar.

CONCLUSIONS

An association was found between profession and knowledge about childhood cancer. Although there is an adequate level of knowledge about this disease in the five cities evaluated, areas of opportunity were identified to improve training on the early identification of cancer, especially in the group of nurses.