Community intervention on oral cancer in high risk patients

Abstract

Introduction: oropharyngeal cancer mortality ranked tenth among cancers in Cuba in 2020 and 2021. Objective: to implement a community intervention on oral cancer in high-risk patients aged 35 to 59 years. Method: a community intervention with quasi-experimental design, before-after type with control group, was carried out in clinics 7, 25 and 27 of the polyclinics of Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud between January and September 2022. A sample of 454 patients was selected, distributed in a control and experimental group for each clinic, formed by the same number of patients at random. Theoretical, empirical and mathematical-statistical methods were used and the variables used were: risk for predicting oral cancer, risk factors, level of knowledge about oral cancer and teaching methods. Results: the risk of developing oral cancer was high in 69% of the patients between 35-59 years of age in the clinics under study. Before the intervention, a poor level of knowledge predominated, representing 57.7% of the experimental group. After the intervention, 86.8% of the main risk factors initially identified decreased. Conclusions: the use of new information and communication technologies in promotion and prevention activities contributed to raise the level of knowledge about oral cancer, the main risk factors associated to its appearance and oral self-examination, allowing to transform the modes of action and to evaluate as satisfactory the community intervention implemented in high-risk patients between 35-59 years old.