title: Mouth self-examination in a population at risk of oral cancer.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cancer of the oral cavity is a public health problem and many cases are not diagnosed until the disease has reached an advanced stage. The aim of this study was to initiate an educational programme in self-examination for patients at risk from oral cancer.
  
  
  METHODS
  This quasi-experimental study set out to initiate an educational programme in self-examination for patients at risk from oral cancer, assessing the outcomes after three months. In individual 15-minute face-to-face sessions, patients were given information and training in oral cancer risk factors and then verbal instructions as how to carry out oral self-examination. Three months later, patients were interviewed by telephone and asked if they had carried out self-examination independently at home. The programme was evaluated by means of a health belief model questionnaire on perceived susceptibility (3 items), severity (8 items), benefits (4 items), barriers (8 items) and efficacy (6 items).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-six patients (37 females [43.1%] and 49 males [56.9%]) with a mean age of 58.60±10.7 completed the oral self-examination programme. Logistic regression analysis indicated that patients who felt themselves subject to susceptibility (OR: 0.03 95% CI: 0.0-0.86; p<0.04), severity (OR 0.23 95% 0.08-0.68; p<0.008) and benefits (OR 0.11 95% 0.02-0.63; p<0.013) were more likely to perform self-examination.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Training programmes in oral self-examination are needed to decrease morbidity and mortality from oral cancer.
authors.affiliation: Dental Clinic, The University of Murcia, Morales Meseguer Hospital, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: P López
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Jornet
authors.forename: F J Gómez
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Garcia
authors.forename: M Lucero
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Berdugo
authors.forename: F Parra
authors.initials: FP
authors.lastname: Perez
authors.forename: A Pons-Fuster
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Lopez
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000428:Alcohol Drinking; D001294:Attitude to Health; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009055:Mouth; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D020377:Self Efficacy; D016353:Self-Examination; D012907:Smoking; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Health belief model; oral cancer; oral self-examination; risk factors