title: Oral cancer awareness and knowledge among residents in the Oporto city, Portugal.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the awareness and knowledge on oral cancer in a general population of Oporto city, in Portugal.
  
  
  METHODS
  Face-to-face interviews were performed with 1116 individuals, resident in the city of Oporto. Participants' socio-demographic information, lifestyle habits and awareness, knowledge and beliefs on oral cancer were ascertained.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Breast cancer was the most mentioned being as heard of (69.8%), while oral cancer was one of the least heard of (23.7%). Tobacco was identified as a risk factor by 54.8% of individuals and this knowledge was associated with their education level (P < 0.001), dentist visits (P = 0.026), and tobacco consumption (P < 0.001). Fewer subjects (24.6%) referred to alcohol as a risk factor, and this knowledge was associated with their education level (P = 0.020) and dentist visits (P = 0.002). More than half the subjects (58.8%) could not identify any sign or symptom of oral cancer.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a general lack of awareness on oral cancer among this Oporto population. Higher education level and better oral health care were significant factors that identified individuals with a better awareness and knowledge of oral cancer, suggesting that educational measures could be useful for the prevention and early diagnosis of oral cancer in the Portuguese population.
authors.affiliation: Medicine and Oral Surgery Department and Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies (IINFACTS), Higher Institute of Health Sciences (ISCS-N), CESPU, Paredes, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luís Silva
authors.initials: LS
authors.lastname: Monteiro
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine, Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences, King's College London Dental Institute and WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer, London, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Saman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Warnakulasuriya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies (IINFACTS), Higher Institute of Health Sciences (ISCS-N), CESPU, Paredes, Portugal.
authors.forename: Suzana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cadilhe
authors.affiliation: Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies (IINFACTS), Higher Institute of Health Sciences (ISCS-N), CESPU, Paredes, Portugal.
authors.forename: Duarte
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Sousa
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, Fernando Pessoa University, Oporto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Pedro Ferreira
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Trancoso
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology Department, Portuguese Oncology Institute (IPOPorto), Porto, Portugal.
authors.forename: Luís
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Antunes
authors.affiliation: Medicine and Oral Surgery Department and Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies (IINFACTS), Higher Institute of Health Sciences (ISCS-N), CESPU, Paredes, Portugal.
authors.forename: Filomena
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Salazar
authors.affiliation: Medicine and Oral Surgery Department and Institute of Research and Advanced Training in Health Sciences and Technologies (IINFACTS), Higher Institute of Health Sciences (ISCS-N), CESPU, Paredes, Portugal.
authors.forename: José Júlio
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Pacheco
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000009:adverse effects; D003729:Dental Care; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011174:Portugal / Q000453:epidemiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: awareness; oral cancer; risk factors; signs and symptoms; survey