Abstract

BackgroundTobacco and alcohol are the main risk factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma, the low survival rate of which is a public health problem. European-wide health policies (a prevention campaign, tobacco packaging) have been put in place to inform the population of the risks associated with consumption. Due to the increase in smoking among women, the incidence of this disease remains high. The identification of internet research data on the population could help to measure the impact of and better position these preventive measures. The objective was to analyze a potential temporal association between public health programs and interest in oral cancers on the internet in the European Union (EU).MethodsA search of data from Google ©, Wikipedia © and Twitter © users in 28 European countries relating to oral cancer between 2004 and 2019 was completed. Bibliometric analysis of press and scientific articles over the same period was also performed. The association between these data and the introduction of public health programs in Europe was studied.ResultsThere was a temporal association between changes in tobacco packaging and a significant increase in internet searches for oral cancer in seven countries. Unlike national policies and ad campaigns, the European awareness program Make Sense has had no influence on internet research. There was an asymmetric correlation in internet searches between publications on oral cancer from scientific articles or "traditional" media (weak association) and those from internet media such as Twitter © or Wikipedia © (strong association).ConclusionOur work highlights seven areas around which oral cancer awareness in Europe could be refocused, such as a change in the communication of health warnings on cigarette packs, the establishment of a more explicit campaign name regarding oral cancer, the involvement of public figures and associations in initiatives to be organized at the local level and the strengthening of awareness of the dangers of tobacco in the development of oral cancer.

Highlights

  • Tobacco and alcohol are the main risk factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma, the low survival rate of which is a public health problem

  • Identification of public health programs related to oral cancers in the European Union (EU) The oral cancer risk factor prevention awareness campaigns of each EU country included were researched alongside public data from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Head & Neck Society (EHNS)

  • Public health programs Each prevention measures we identified was about tobacco: the introduction of health warnings and shock images on cigarette packets in Belgium (2006), Spain (2011), France (2011), Romania (2008) and the United Kingdom (2008) and the enforcement of directive 2014/40/EU in all 28 EU countries

Read more

Summary

Introduction

Tobacco and alcohol are the main risk factors for oral squamous cell carcinoma, the low survival rate of which is a public health problem. European-wide health policies (a prevention campaign, tobacco packaging) have been put in place to inform the population of the risks associated with consumption. The objective was to analyze a potential temporal association between public health programs and interest in oral cancers on the internet in the European Union (EU). Oral cancers and their risk factors A clear majority of oral cancers are attributable to tobacco and alcohol. Preventing and raising awareness of oral cancers among the population of the European Union By limiting the consumption of tobacco and alcohol and raising public awareness of their dangers, the worldwide prevalence of the disease could be reduced by 75% [6]. In Europe, the average annual cost of an oral cancer patient in 2012 was between €20.000 and €23.000 [7]

Methods
Results
Discussion
Conclusion
Full Text
Published version (Free)

Talk to us

Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have

Schedule a call