A Comparison of Community-Based and Hospital-Based Head and Neck Cancer Screening Campaigns<subtitle>Identifying High-Risk Individuals and Early Disease</subtitle><alt-title>Community- vs Hospital-Based Cancer Screening</alt-title>

Abstract

These data suggest that the 2 screening models attract 2 fundamentally different types of participants, and those in both groups may benefit from screening, albeit for different reasons: one has a higher rate of risk factors, and early-stage HNC might be discovered while it is more readily treatable; the other has a higher rate of concerning signs, symptoms, and findings, and screening might be used to diagnose or rule out HNC.

Characteristics and predictors of oral cancer knowledge in a predominantly African American community

“…This is consistent with previous findings that race car attendees at NASCAR smoke more compared to the general public [13,14,27]; however rate was lower than what was reported in a previous Caucasian dominated NASCAR race (31%) [40]. The high smoking rates found in our study lend support to the idea that screenings events associated with motor sports may provide an avenue for increasing awareness about main risk factors for developing oral cancer [27]. Also, significantly fewer smokers graduated from college compared with nonsmokers, supporting a previous study by White et al [40].…”

“…A recent study indicates that compared to hospital-based screenings, community-based events are more effective in attracting participants with high-risk behaviors for oral cancer [27]. These high-risk behaviors have been described in the literature to include smoking and alcohol consumption, along with male predominance [49].…”

“…Compared to the cost of managing oral cancer, community oral cancer screenings and educational measures may be far more cost-effective [24,26]. During community oral cancer screening events, there is also an additional value of providing education and general awareness about oral cancer risk factors [27], since population knowledge levels are suboptimal [28–32], and knowledge level has been shown to be associated with oral cancer screening practices [33–37]. Other than community mass oral cancer screenings, there have also been other studies from Florida, Maryland, North Carolina, and New York that employed telephone-based surveys to elicit awareness of oral cancer, as well as knowledge of oral cancer risk factors (tobacco and alcohol) among whites, blacks, and other racial/ethnic groups [28,33,38,39].…”

Assessment of human papillomavirus awareness in association with head and neck cancer at a screening event

“…The rapid rise in HPV‐related HNC and the overall decrease in HNC are changing the demographics of the classic HNC patient, necessitating changes to whom screening and education should be targeted . One such method to increase awareness of HNC is through free screening clinics, which have shown efficacy in educating attendees . However, public understanding of HNC and its association with HPV is still lacking.…”

Knowledge and Screening of Head and Neck Cancer Among American Indians in South Dakota

“…This gender imbalance is consistent with free screenings in both Native and non-Native populations. 25,26 It may be related, in part, to the fact that community workers and nurses administering the survey were women. Our sampling method also resulted in a population in which almost 70% had some amount of higher education.…”