Florida nurse practitioners' attitudes and practices regarding oral cancer prevention and early detection.
OBJECTIVE
To examine Florida nurse practitioners' (NPs') attitudes and practices regarding oral cancer prevention and early detection.


METHODS
A statewide mail survey was conducted among Florida NPs who provided primary care. The questionnaire was adapted from an existing survey instrument used to measure NPs' knowledge, attitudes, and practices about oral cancer prevention and early detection. A total of 448 Florida NPs (33% response rate) completed the survey.


CONCLUSIONS
Florida NPs reportedly were not well prepared for oral cancer prevention and early detection. Although most NPs realized the importance of annual oral cancer screening for high-risk populations and held positive attitudes toward the benefit of early detection, only 39.3% of respondents thought his or her knowledge about oral cancer was current and more than half had never provided oral cancer examinations.


CONCLUSIONS
Florida has among the nation's highest oral cancer rates, but persons at highest risk are among those least likely to see a dentist. Therefore, a multidisciplinary approach involving all relevant healthcare providers, including NPs, may be more effective than relying only on dentists' efforts in improving survival rates for oral cancer. Strategies are needed to increase the involvement of Florida's NPs in oral cancer detection.
Department of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Alabama, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Xiaoxian
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Meng
R Paul
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Duncan
Colleen K
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Porter
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Scott L
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Tomar
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence / Q000592:standards; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005431:Florida / Q000453:epidemiology; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D009722:Nurse Practitioners / Q000193:education / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D024802:Nurse's Role / Q000523:psychology; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010348:Patient Care Team / Q000458:organization & administration; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D012307:Risk Factors; D020377:Self Efficacy; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D015996:Survival Rate