Oral Cancer Knowledge: A Survey Administered to Patients in Dental Departments at Large Italian Hospitals

Abstract

We assessed the oral cancer (OC) knowledge, including risk factors and clinical symptoms, among patients attending dental departments within Italian university hospitals. Two thousand and two hundred questionnaires were sent to four hospitals in order to assess patients’ knowledge regarding clinical and epidemiological aspects of OC; OC knowledge was evaluated overall and stratified by oral cancer family history. Participants frequently identified cigarette smoking (87.8%) and heavy alcohol consumption (58.6%) as a risk factor for oral cancer, knew the clinical signs of OC (65–79% depending on the specific symptom) and reported that early detection was related to better prognosis of oral cancer (94%). Individuals with a positive family history for oral cancer were significantly more likely to identify risk factors for oral cancer correctly yet family history of OC did not affect smoking status. Less than 15% of patients reported having received OC counseling by a dentist or physician.

Oral Cancer: Awareness and Knowledge Among Dental Patients in Riyadh

“…In the present study, the knowledge regarding risk factors was rather poor; although around two thirds of the subjects identified tobacco use as a risk factor, only 56 % knew that alcohol consumption is also a potential risk factor. These findings are in line with most studies, which found greater public awareness of tobacco as a risk factor compared with alcohol consumption [16,19,[21][22][23]28]. The greater awareness of tobacco as a risk factor could be attributed to anti-tobacco media campaigns explaining the adverse effects of smoking.…”

“…In the present study, around one third of Saudi subjects were tobacco smokers, and, surprisingly, although the majority of smokers (62.3 %) knew that smoking was a risk factor for oral cancer, they continued to smoke. Similarly, majority of smoking adults from Italy [28] and more than half of smoking adults from Kuwait [29] were aware of the correlation between heavy smoking and oral cancer but, nevertheless, continued to smoke. Patients knew that smoking and heavy alcohol consumption were risk factors for oral cancer but did not change behavior.…”

Oral cancer awareness and knowledge among dental patients in South India

“…However, more alarming was the observation that only quarter of the study population got information about oral cancer from a dentist, emphasising the need on the part of dental professionals to inform and educate their patients better about oral cancer. This finding is similar to the study by Villa et al (2011) done on Italian dental patients, where less than 15% reported having received oral cancer counselling by a dentist or a physician. Also, this study stated that only 1.6% were aware of their oral cancer examination which could be because of their high-risk behaviour pattern.…”

Self-Reported Oral Hygiene Habits among Dental Patients in Italy

“…The study methods have been described previously [15]. Briefly, questionnaires were sent to the dental departments of four Italian university hospitals (550 per hospital): University of Messina, Umberto I Hospital; University La Sapienza, San Paolo Hospital; University of Milano, and San Raffaele Hospital, University Vita e Salute.…”