Knowledge of Childhood Cancer Case Detection among Primary Health Care Workers in Osun State

Abstract

Background: Survival rates of childhood cancer in Nigeria is low because suspected cases of childhood cancer are usually diagnosed at an advanced stage. It is hoped that assessing the knowledge gaps in the identification of warning signs and symptoms of childhood cancer among healthcare workers in primary
healthcare facilities would lead to an improvement in early diagnosis, detection, and referral, which will subsequently reduce mortality from childhood cancer.
Objective: To assess the knowledge of childhood cancer case detection among primary health care workers in Osun state.
Materials and Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among 210 primary health care workers recruited by multistage sampling technique. Data was collected using a pretested semi-structured questionnaire. Analysis was done using SPSS software version 23.0 and level of significance set at p<0.05.
Results: About 55.7% and 44.3% of the respondents had good and poor knowledge of childhood cancer respectively. There was a statistically significant association between respondents’ knowledge, their marital status (p=0.00) and years of experience with case detection practices of childhood cancers (p=0.006). Married respondents were 6 times less likely to have poor knowledge (OR 0.398, 95% CI 0.213 - 0.745, p=0.004). Also, those with 6-10 years of experience were 7 times less likely to have poor knowledge (OR 0.349, 95% CI 0.13 - 0.939, p=0.037)
Conclusion: Respondents had good level of knowledge on detection of childhood cancer however, there is a need for continuous training to further build their capacities on detection of signs and symptoms of childhood cancers