The trend of oral cancer screening in Bangladesh, perceptions, and risk factors: a model comparison approach

Abstract

Background: Oral cancer (OC) is a leading cause of death among cancer patients and a major public health concern in Bangladesh. Timely OC screening can help in the early detection of OC and could reduce the mortality rate in Bangladesh. We aimed to assess the tend of OC screening, perception and risk factors among dental patients. Methods: This was a facility-based cross-sectional study among 423 participants with dental problems using a convenience sampling technique. The collected data were analyzed by IBM SPSS 25 and various statistics, such as the chi-squared test, Poisson regression, logistic regression, etc., were used to attain the objectives. Results: Only 2.4% of the study participants underwent OC screening before the study period. The use of smokeless tobacco and smoking were significantly associated with the tend of OC screening.  According to the Poisson model, previous smokeless tobacco users were 5 times (odds ratio (OR): 5.403, P<0.05) more likely than non-users to go for OC screening, which was 8 times (OR: 7.729, P=0.033) for the binary logistic regression.  Having a family history of OC increased the odds of receiving an OC screening by nine times (OR: 9.544, P<0.002) compared to individuals without a family history of OC; it was 16 times (OR: 16.438, P=0.001) for the binary logistic regression. Conclusions: This study shows former smokeless tobacco users and past smokers are more likely to uptake OC screening than non-users. In addition, patients having a family history of OC increased the odds of receiving OC screening than subjects without a family history of OC. The lack of OC screening in Bangladesh highlights the need to implement a national-level screening program to help with the early diagnosis of OC and its prevention.