Oral Cancer Knowledge and Awareness among Patients Referred to a University Dental Hospital in North Cyprus

Mujgan Firincioglulari,Kaan Orhan,Secil Aksoy

doi:10.3390/app12010192

Mujgan Firincioglulari, Kaan Orhan + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/app12010192

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Abstract

Public knowledge about oral cancer may help to prevent and detect the disease at an early stage. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness and knowledge levels on oral cancer symptoms and risk factors among patients attending a faculty of dentistry in North Cyprus. A total of 250 adult dental patients participated voluntarily in a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on sociodemographic profile, oral cancer awareness, and knowledge. A total of 54.8% of the participants were male and 91.2% of the participants had a high school diploma and above education. Most participants were knowledgeable about oral cancer symptoms and a majority of them identified oral ulceration (64%). Tobacco cessation was the most selected option for protecting from oral cancer (79.6%). Significant differences were found between genders in current smokers, past tobacco users, alcohol users, and HPV awareness questions (p < 0.05). Furthermore, awareness and knowledge questions were compared between smoker and non-smoker participants and significant differences were found in the answers of ‘alcohol may cause mouth cancer’ and ‘quit tobacco use to prevent oral cancer’ (p < 0.05). This study showed that most of the participants were aware that tobacco cessation reduces the risk of oral cancer. The survey results showed that patients in North Cyprus are generally aware of the risk of tobacco-related oral cancer, but they demonstrate lower knowledge about other risk factors.

Highlights

Patients who are diagnosed with oral cancer display an exclusive set of challenging, sophisticated, and multidisciplinary clinical issues, and their survival rate and quality of life may be improved by early diagnosis [1]
Oral cancer is largely considered a preventable disease and substantial public awareness and information may lead to a decrease in the number of oral cancer diseases in the population
It is quite understandable that education on oral cancer in a population is directly associated with the prognosis

Summary

Introduction

Patients who are diagnosed with oral cancer display an exclusive set of challenging, sophisticated, and multidisciplinary clinical issues, and their survival rate and quality of life may be improved by early diagnosis [1]. Oral cavity cancer is one of the most common malignancies, in developing countries and in the evolved world [2]. According to World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Cancer Report 2014, oropharyngeal and oral cavity cancers are the seventh most frequently diagnosed cancers and are the ninth malignancy in terms of mortality in the world [3]. Risk factors of oral cancer may differ in specific cultural and socioeconomic populations. Tobacco and alcohol consumption are the most compelling risk factors for the development of oral cavity cancer. The synergetic effect of tobacco and alcohol increases the oral cancer risk about 24-fold [5]. Oral cancers are diagnosed generally in patients between the ages of 55 and 64 years, and men exhibit a greater risk than women. The way of living is an important risk factor for oral cancers, the motivation of the patients’ has an important role for awareness of oral cancer to adjust their behavior and lessen their chance of getting cancer [7]

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