Knowledge of Oral Cancer Amongst Dental Patients Attending Public Clinics in South East Queensland, Australia

Patient knowledge of risk factors, signs and symptoms associated with oral cancers is crucial for increasing the likelihood of patient presentation for opportunistic screening and reducing delay in patient appraisal for early detection. This study aimed to assess the knowledge of oral cancer and to ascertain socio-demographic factors that influence knowledge amongst adult dental patients attending public clinics in Brisbane, Australia. A convenience sample of 213 adult dental patients who attended the Herston and Stafford public health clinics in Brisbane, Australia, between July and August 2019 participated in the self-administered questionnaire. Multivariate analyses were performed to identify predictors for oral cancer knowledge. Patients were well informed of smoking as a risk factor (n = 135; 84.4%), whereas only 53.8% (n = 82) of participants agreed that heavy alcohol consumption was a risk factor. A larger proportion of participants identified difficulty of moving the tongue (n = 79; 49.4%) and pain on swallowing (n = 72; 45.0%) compared to the proportion who identified fixed red patches (n = 61; 38.1%) and fixed white patches (n = 57; 35.6%) as a sign or symptom. Education level and gender were significant knowledge predictors for alcohol (p = 0.01), old age (p = 0.008) and family history (p = 0.004) as a risk factors for oral cancer. Those with a family history of cancer were more likely to identify a red patch (p = 0.02), bleeding gums (p = 0.001) and altered sensation (p = 0.023) as a sign or symptom of oral cancer. Overall, patient knowledge was greater for risk factors than for signs and symptoms for oral cancer. Symptoms associated with later stages of cancer were recognised by a greater proportion of patients compared to early stages of oral cancer. These results indicate the need for targeted public health initiatives to improve patient knowledge.

Oral Cancer Awareness and Individuals' Inclination to Its Screening and Risk Prediction in Hong Kong

Assessing the baseline knowledge status and expectations of the target population of any health promotion and secondary prevention program is essential to the success of such intervention. To obtain this information about the Hong Kong population a priori to implementing these preventive strategies for oral cancer in addition to determining the willingness of potential screening participants to take risk-profiling assessments, a cross-sectional survey was conducted between November 2019 and March 2020. A total of 964 residents between the ages 18 and 86 years were invited to participate in this study across the three geographical areas in Hong Kong. Most participants self-reported being aware of oral cancer (86.3%), although the proportion of those with substantial knowledge on salient risk factors and early identifiable signs were very low (2.9%). Age and level of education were the only demographic characteristics associated with the knowledge status. The proportion of participants willing to attend community screening and partake in risk profiling assessment was high (83.9% and 80.9% respectively). Willingness to attend community screening was directly associated with respondents' self-reported oral cancer awareness status (OR: 1.9, 95% CI: 1.22-2.96). Also, we observed that those participants who were willing to attend screening are more inclined to take risk prediction assessments that those not willing to attend. These findings have showcased the need to intensify health promotion via personal skills development to encourage early disease presentation and will assist in the planning of these programs accordingly in the Hong Kong population.

Factors influencing oral cancer screening preferences in patients attending Tertiary Care University Oral Health Clinic

BACKGROUND

Understanding factors that influence patients' preferences towards oral cancer (OC) screening is imperative to provide high-quality evidence-based OC screening interventions that can be targeted for population-level uptake. This study determined adult patients' knowledge and awareness of OC, and how health behaviours influenced their preferences towards OC screening.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study used a 42-point questionnaire, between February and May 2020 using a combination of in-person and telephone interviews. Chi-square test and multiple logistic regression analysis were applied to confounding factors that returned statistical significance against OC knowledge and awareness. Significance of P < 0.05 was accepted.

RESULTS

Sixty-eight (38.6%) participants out of a total 176 had good knowledge of OC and 89 (50.6%) had good awareness. A total of 31.8% reported preference for OC screening by a general dental practitioner (GDP) over a general medical practitioner (GMP). Majority (72.7%) reported acceptance of OC screening at their next GDP visit. Ages 56-70 (OR = 0.357, 95% CI) and previous smokers (OR = 0.336, 95% CI) significantly influenced screening preferences. Knowledge of risk factors did not significantly influence OC screening preferences (χ²  = 3.178, P = 0.075).

CONCLUSIONS

Significant gaps in OC knowledge, screening and role of GDPs exist with smoking history and age influencing OC screening preferences.

Knowledge of Oral Cancer by a Brazilian Population

The aim of the present study was to investigate the knowledge about oral cancer in a Brazilian population, including initial clinical signs, causal factors, and the health professional of first choice when suspected of the disease. A total of 2261 participants were interviewed in a cross-sectional study, to investigate associations between sociodemographic descriptive variables and knowledge of oral cancer, risk factors, disease precursor lesions, and health professional of choice for diagnosis. The variables were descriptively analyzed and possible associations investigated considering p values < 0.05. A total of 83.4% of participants reported knowing about oral cancer, and 59.5% reported knowing about potentially malignant lesions; both variables were associated (p < 0.0001). Tobacco was identified as the main risk factor (83.6%), followed by family history (66.2%), and poor oral hygiene (54.5%). Interviewees with higher education level had greater knowledge about cancer (p < 0.0001), and the dentist was the health professional of choice for 43.1% of those who knew about the disease (p = 0.007), with the generalist being the most sought specialist. The population evaluated had a low knowledge of oral cancer given the lack of specific clarifications on etiological factors and risk situations. Health education initiatives are necessary to increase population awareness of potentially malignant oral lesions and improve early diagnosis and recognition of the dentist as a qualified professional for diagnosis of the disease.

Oral cancer awareness in patients attending university dental clinics: A scoping review of Australian studies

This scoping review was carried out to evaluate the important role Australian university-based dental teaching clinics and dental students might have in promoting oral cancer awareness in their patients. Four Online database (PubMed, OVID, Scopus and Emcare) were searched for studies that assessed oral cancer awareness amongst patients attending Australian university-associated (teaching) clinics. A total of five articles were retrieved for full-text analysis. All studies showed significant variation in patient awareness and understanding regarding the principal risk factors associated with oral cancer development. Smoking was predominantly identified as a significant risk factor, but alcohol consumption was less frequently recognized as relevant. Non-healing ulceration was most commonly identified as a symptom of concern, whilst red and/or white mucosal patches were infrequently recognized as potentially malignant conditions. Our review confirms that a significant lack of patient awareness regarding oral cancer risk and the signs /symptoms of early malignancy or potentially malignant disease exist in patients attending dental teaching clinics. Important opportunities exist to involve dental students proactively in raising oral cancer awareness, delivering smoking cessation interventions and safe alcohol consumption advice to their patients. Incorporation of established health educational models might deliver effective support for such student-delivered patient education.

Factors associated with delay in presentation among patients for oral cancer

Aim: This study aimed to determine factors that influence delay in presentation among oral cancer patients. Materials & methods: A cross-sectional study with 128 Oral cancer patients receiving treatment from the Hospital of Stomatology, at Jilin University, in China, was conducted. Results: A total of 78 patients delayed seeking treatment for more than 3 weeks after noticing symptoms of oral anomaly. Patients who were male, farmers (Odds ratio [OR] = 2.617; 95% CI: 1.90–3.64), or currently smoking (OR = 4.651; 95% CI: 1.21–9.46), were more likely to delay. Patients alerted to the problem at a physical exam had much lower risk of delay than patients who discovered the disease independently (OR = 0.029; 95% CI: 0.01–0.30). Higher coping style scores (OR = 0.747; 95% CI: 0.47–1.18) and oral cancer knowledge scores (OR = 0.886; 95% CI: 0.60–2.01) were significantly correlated with shorter delays. Conclusion: Delay in presentation may be achieved through regular oral health screening and improved public education about factors influencing delay.

Population Survey of Knowledge about Oral Cancer and Related Factors in the Capital of Iran

Knowledge about oral cancer risk factors and signs is thought to improve prevention and early diagnosis, and in turn, increases survival. In this population-based survey, knowledge about oral cancer was assessed in Iran. A total of 1800 self-administered questionnaires (collecting sociodemographic data and questions regarding oral cancer risk factors and signs) were distributed through random sampling. Final scores ranged between 0 and 15 for the risk factors and 0-11 for the signs. Scores below the median indicated a low level of knowledge, scores representing the third quartile of correct answers indicated a moderate level of knowledge, and scores representing the upper quartile indicated a high level of knowledge. Statistical tests were used for analysis of knowledge level in different sociodemographic categories. A total of 1312 participants completed the questionnaires. The average of knowledge scores for risk factors was 5.3 ± 3.0 and for signs was 4.5 ± 2.9. Overall, 75 and 56% respectively were able to identify major risk factors (smoking and alcohol); 23.5% could not define any related signs and symptoms. Dividing scores into quartiles indicated that three out of four people had "low" knowledge about risk factors and 58% had "low" knowledge about signs and symptoms. Females and highly educated people had more knowledge of oral cancer. Significant difference was found between job and level of knowledge (P = 0.001). This survey revealed that public knowledge of oral cancer was not satisfactory in Iran. Efforts should be done to inform and educate people with risk factors, initial clinical presentation, and symptoms, in order to improve prevention and promote early diagnosis.