title: Differences on Primary Care Labor Perceptions in Medical Students from 11 Latin American Countries.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The shortage in Latin-American Primary Care (PC) workforce may be due to negative perceptions about it. These perceptions might be probably influenced by particular features of health systems and academic environments, thus varying between countries.
  
  
  METHODS
  Observational, analytic and cross-sectional multicountry study that evaluated 9,561 first and fifth-year medical students from 63 medical schools of 11 Latin American countries through a survey. Perceptions on PC work was evaluated through a previously validated scale. Tertiles of the scores were created in order to compare the different countries. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios were calculated using simple and multiple Poisson regression with robust variance.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Approximately 53% of subjects were female; mean age was 20.4±2.9 years; 35.5% were fifth-year students. Statistically significant differences were found between the study subjects' country, using Peru as reference. Students from Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Paraguay perceived PC work more positively, while those from Ecuador showed a less favorable position. No differences were found among perceptions of Bolivian, Salvadoran, Honduran and Venezuelan students when compared to their Peruvian peers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Perceptions of PC among medical students from Latin America vary according to country. Considering such differences can be of major importance for potential local specific interventions.
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Reneé
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6398-4287
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Pereyra-Elías
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Percy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mayta-Tristán
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Juan José
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Montenegro-Idrogo
authors.affiliation: Escuela de Medicina, Universidad Peruana de Ciencias Aplicadas, Lima, Perú
authors.forename: Christian R
authors.initials: CR
authors.lastname: Mejia
authors.affiliation: Hospital de Illapel, Illapel, Chile.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Abudinén A
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Asunción, Paraguay.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azucas-Peralta
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Guayaquil, Guayaquil, Ecuador.
authors.forename: Jorge
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Barrezueta-Fernandez
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Dr. Jose Matias Delgado, San Salvador, El Salvador.
authors.forename: Luis
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Cerna-Urrutia
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas, Venezuela.
authors.forename: Adrián
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: DaSilva-DeAbreu
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Tecnológica de Pereira, Pereira, Colombia.
authors.forename: Alvaro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mondragón-Cardona
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras, Tegucigalpa, Honduras.
authors.forename: Geovanna
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Moya
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Hispanoamericana, San José, Costa Rica.
authors.forename: Christian D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Valverde-Solano
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Católica Boliviana San Pablo, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
authors.forename: Rhanniel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Theodorus-Villar
authors.affiliation: Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Juárez, Durango, México.
authors.forename: Maribel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vizárraga-León
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007843:Latin America; D008297:Male; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D010465:Perception; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D000078329:Workforce; D055815:Young Adult