title: Oral Cancer: Awareness and Knowledge Among Dental Patients in Riyadh.
abstract: More than 50 % of oral cancer cases are diagnosed at advanced stages. Public knowledge about oral cancer can help in prevention and early detection of the disease. The aim of the present study was to assess the levels of awareness and knowledge about signs and risk factors of oral cancer among dental patients in Saudi Arabia. A self-administered questionnaire was used to collect information from 1410 randomly selected patients attending dental departments within public hospitals in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software. The significance level was set at P < 0.05. The study revealed that only 62.4 % were aware of oral cancer. Some 68.2 and 56.5 %, respectively, were able to correctly identify tobacco and alcohol as risk factors. More than two thirds of subjects had no knowledge about any signs of oral cancer. Participants with lower than university education were significantly less aware, and had much less knowledge, of the signs and risk factors of oral cancer. The knowledge regarding oral cancer among Saudi dental patients is alarmingly low. Interventions to improve public knowledge about oral cancer and attitudes towards early diagnosis and treatment are urgently indicated.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, AL-Farabi Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, 11691, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. sadali05@hotmail.com.|Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnosis, Faculty of Dentistry, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen. sadali05@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Sadeq Ali
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Al-Maweri
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Policy and Administration, Washington State University, Pullman, WA, USA.
authors.forename: Walid Ahmed
authors.initials: WA
authors.lastname: Al-Soneidar
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, AL-Farabi Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, 11691, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.|Department of Periodontology, Faculty of Dentistry, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Esam
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Dhaifullah
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral Medicine and Diagnosis, Faculty of Dentistry, Sana'a University, Sana'a, Yemen.
authors.forename: Esam Saleh
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Halboub
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Sciences, AL-Farabi Colleges of Dentistry and Nursing, 11691, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Bassel
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Tarakji
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001364:Awareness; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D055088:Early Detection of Cancer; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D012307:Risk Factors; D012529:Saudi Arabia; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Dental patients; Knowledge; Oral cancer; Saudi