Self-perceived competence in early diagnosis of cervical cancer among recently graduated physicians from Lima, Peru

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of recently graduated physicians who perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform Papanicolaou (PAP), Visual Inspection with Acetic Acid (VIA), and Visual Inspection with Lugol´s Iodine (VILI); and study its associated factors, in Lima, Peru. METHODS: This cross-sectional study evaluated recently graduated physicians from Lima, Peru. Physicians were considered to perceive themselves as adequately competent if they had answered, "agree" or "strongly agree" when asked if they were competent enough to perform these screening tests. To evaluate the associated factors, prevalence ratios (PR) were calculated using Poisson regressions with robust variance. RESULTS: Only 367/432 (86.2%) physicians perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform PAP, 257 (60.5%) to perform VIA, and 247 (58.1%) to perform VILI. Physicians who performed their gynecology/obstetric clerkship at hospitals from the police or armed forces had a higher proportion of perceiving themselves as adequately competent to perform VIA and VILI. CONCLUSIONS: Nine out of ten physicians perceived themselves as adequately competent to perform PAP, while six out of ten to perform VIA or VILI. The health care system in which the physicians performed their clerkship was associated with the prevalence of adequate self-perceived competence for performing VIA and VILI.