Oral cancer - knowledge and perception of the population in the screening program during world oral, head and neck cancer awareness week

Abstract

Aim: Oral cancer (OC) is characterized by a high mortality rate because most cases are diagnosed at an advanced stage. The purpose of this study was to assess population knowledge at screening for OC, risk factors, prevention, and early detection, and to determine whether factors such as level of education and gender affect knowledge of the respondents. Material and Methods: The study was conducted at the School of Dental Medicine University of Zagreb and the Faculty of Dental Medicine University of Rijeka using the attached questionnaire. Participants were patients who arrived for free screening examinations during World Oral, Head and Neck Cancer Awareness Week from 22–28 April 2017, and answered survey questions on their knowledge of OC. Results: One hundred and eighty-five participants attended the screening event. Some participants did not answer certain questions, so the statistics with each question were made only for those respondents who answered that question. Screening event has included 99 (57.9%) females and 72 (42.1%) males (14 participants did not answer). The median age of participants was 67 years. The majority of participants (115; 80.4%) had heard about OC, but had not heard about nor previously attended OC screening examination (71 or 51.1% of females and 123 or 86.6% of males). No significant difference between genders and between participants with different levels of education was observed. The majority of participants (111;79.3%) knew that smoking was a risk factor for OC, and believed that their risk of getting OC was similar to other people in their age group and gender. Conclusions: Our results show that most participants have heard about OC, but have not heard about nor previously attend OC screenings. Future programs should be directed more to the high-risk population in order to achieve early detection and treatment of OC.