Oral Cancer Knowledge and Awareness among Patients Referred to a University Dental Hospital in North Cyprus

Abstract

Public knowledge about oral cancer may help to prevent and detect the disease at an early stage. This study aimed to evaluate the awareness and knowledge levels on oral cancer symptoms and risk factors among patients attending a faculty of dentistry in North Cyprus. A total of 250 adult dental patients participated voluntarily in a self-administered questionnaire. The questionnaire included questions on sociodemographic profile, oral cancer awareness, and knowledge. A total of 54.8% of the participants were male and 91.2% of the participants had a high school diploma and above education. Most participants were knowledgeable about oral cancer symptoms and a majority of them identified oral ulceration (64%). Tobacco cessation was the most selected option for protecting from oral cancer (79.6%). Significant differences were found between genders in current smokers, past tobacco users, alcohol users, and HPV awareness questions (p < 0.05). Furthermore, awareness and knowledge questions were compared between smoker and non-smoker participants and significant differences were found in the answers of ‘alcohol may cause mouth cancer’ and ‘quit tobacco use to prevent oral cancer’ (p < 0.05). This study showed that most of the participants were aware that tobacco cessation reduces the risk of oral cancer. The survey results showed that patients in North Cyprus are generally aware of the risk of tobacco-related oral cancer, but they demonstrate lower knowledge about other risk factors.