Oral Cancer Knowledge and Diagnostic Ability Among Dental Students
- 206 Downloads
- 2 Citations
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to examine factors that influence the diagnostic ability of dental students with regards to oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders. Dental students at different levels of study were directly interviewed to examine their oral cancer knowledge and diagnostic ability using a validated and pre-tested survey instrument containing validated clinical images of oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders. An oral cancer knowledge scale (0 to 31) was generated from correct responses on oral cancer general knowledge, and a diagnostic ability scale (0 to 100) was generated from correct selections of suspicious oral lesions. Knowledge scores ranged from 0 to 27 (mean 10.1 ± 6.0); mean knowledge scores increased with year of study; 5th year students had the highest mean knowledge score (19.1 ± 4.0), while 1st year students had the lowest (5.6 ± 3.5). Diagnostic ability scores increased with year of study and ranged from 0 to 88.5 % (mean 41.8 % ± 15.6). The ability to recognize suspicious oral lesions was significantly correlated with knowledge about oral cancer and oral potentially malignant disorders (r = 0.28; P < 0.001). There is a need to improve oral cancer education curricula; increasing students’ contact with patients who have oral lesions including oral cancer will help to improve their future diagnostic ability and early detection practices.
Keywords
Oral Cancer Early detection Potentially malignant Screening Dental educationNotes
Compliance with Ethical Standards
The purpose and nature of the study was explained and consent to participate was obtained.The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the local research and ethics committee.
References
- 1.Jemal A, Siegel R, Xu J, Ward E (2010) Cancer statistics. CA Cancer J Clin 60:277–300CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 2.Scully C, Bagan J (2009) Oral squamous cell carcinoma: overview of current understanding of aetiopathogenesis and clinical implications. Oral Dis 15:388–399CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 3.Petti S, Masood M, Scully C (2013) The magnitude of tobacco smoking-betel quid chewing-alcohol drinking interaction effect on oral cancer in south-east Asia: a meta-analysis of observational studies. Public Libr Sci (PLoS One) 8, e78999Google Scholar
- 4.Scully C (2011) Oral cancer aetiopathogenesis; past, present and future aspects. Med Oral Patol Oral Cir Bucal 16:e306–e311CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 5.Scully C (2013) RULE for cancer diagnosis. Br Dent J 215:265–266CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 6.van der Waal I (2009) Potentially malignant disorders of the oral and oropharyngeal mucosa; terminology, classification and present concepts of management. Oral Oncol 45:317–323CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 7.Scully C (2014) Challenges in predicting which oral mucosal potentially malignant disease will progress to neoplasia. Oral Dis 20:1–5CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 8.La Vecchia C, Lucchini F, Negri E, Levi F (2004) Trends in oral cancer mortality in Europe. Oral Oncol 40:433–439CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 9.McLeod NMH, Saeed NR, Ali EA (2005) Oral cancer: delays in referral and diagnosis persist. Br Dent J 198:681–684CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 10.Scott SE, Grunfeld EA, McGurk M (2006) Patient’s delay in oral cancer: a systematic review. Community Dent Oral Epidemiol 34:337–343CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 11.Hassona Y, Scully C, Shahin A, Maayta W, Sawair F (2015) Factors influencing early detection of oral cancer by primary health-care professionals. J Cancer Educ. doi: 10.1007/s13187-015-0823-2 PubMedGoogle Scholar
- 12.Carter LM, Ogden GR (2007) Oral cancer awareness of undergraduate medical and dental students. BMC Med Educ 15; 7:44Google Scholar
- 13.Rahman B, Hawas N, Rahman MM, Rabah AF, Al Kawas S (2013) Assessing dental students’ knowledge of oral cancer in the United Arab Emirates. Int Dent J 63:80–84CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 14.Dumitrescu AL, Ibric S, Ibric-Cioranu V (2014) Assessing oral cancer knowledge in Romanian undergraduate dental students. J Cancer Educ 29:506–513CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 15.Joseph BK, Sundaram DB, Ellepola AN (2015) Assessing oral cancer knowledge among undergraduate dental students in Kuwait University. J Cancer Educ 30:415–420CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 16.Jaber MA, Diz Dios P, Vázquez García E, Cutando Soriano A, Porter SR (1997) Spanish dental students knowledge of oral malignancy and premalignancy. Eur J Dent Educ 1:167–171PubMedGoogle Scholar
- 17.Ariyawardana A, Ekanayake L (2008) Screening for oral cancer/pre-cancer: knowledge and opinions of dentists employed in the public sector dental services of Sri Lanka. Asian Pac J Cancer Prev 9:615–618PubMedGoogle Scholar
- 18.LeHew CW, Epstein JB, Kaste LM, Choi YK (2010) Assessing oral cancer early detection: clarifying dentists’ practices. J Public Health Dent 70:93–100PubMedGoogle Scholar
- 19.Hassona Y, Scully C, Abu Ghosh M, Khoury Z, Jarrar S, Sawair F (2015) Mouth cancer awareness and beliefs among dental patients. Int Dent J 65:15–21CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 20.West R, Alkhatib MN, McNeill A, Bedi R (2006) Awareness of mouth cancer in Great Britain. Br Dent J 200:167–169CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar
- 21.Sathish N, Wang X, Yuan Y (2014) Human Papillomavirus (HPV)-associated oral cancers and treatment strategies. J Dent Res 93:29S–36SCrossRefPubMedPubMedCentralGoogle Scholar
- 22.Petersen PE (2009) Oral cancer prevention and control—the approach of the World Health Organization. Oral Oncol 45:454–460CrossRefPubMedGoogle Scholar