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- Title
Knowledge and awareness of oral cancer among dental patients.
- Authors
Guruaribam, Victoria; Sarumathi, T.
- Abstract
Aim: The aim of the study was to assess the awareness among dental patients regarding knowledge of signs and symptoms of oral cancer and the risk factors associated with it. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 patients visiting the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Sree Balaji Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. The instrument of the study was a set of 24 self-structured closed-ended questionnaire which was written in English and then translated into regional language (Tamil). Mann–Whitney U-test and Kruskal–Wallis test were done using IBM SPSS version 24.0 to analyze the results statistically. Results: Out of 300 participants, 64.6% had heard about oral cancer, 22.6% have not heard about of oral cancer, and the remaining 12.6% were unaware of what is oral cancer. 61.6% of the participants had low knowledge about oral cancer, 27% had average or medium knowledge of oral cancer, and only 11.3% had high knowledge. Respondents who are over 40 years of age were found to have a higher level of knowledge and awareness of oral cancer compared to those who were <40 years of age. No significant difference was observed between the gender, levels of education of the patient and their knowledge level. Conclusion: The knowledge about the early signs and symptoms and the risk factors of oral cancer among the study population was very low. The positive results were that 81.3% of the population correctly identified tobacco is a risk factor for oral cancer and 71% of the population responded that oral cancer screening should be mandatory.
- Subjects
CHENNAI (India); ORAL cancer; CANCER risk factors; TRANSLATING of English language; ORAL radiography; ORAL mucosa; INTELLECTUAL development
- Publication
Drug Invention Today, 2019, Vol 12, Issue 3, p528
- ISSN
0975-7619
- Publication type
Article