Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal
We conducted a questionnaire survey among 602 subjects in order to analyze the awareness and knowledge on oral cancer among residents of the city of Valongo in Portugal. The cancer that most subjects were aware of was breast cancer (99%). Oral cancer was the least mentioned cancer (68.6%). There was...
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2012-01-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Dentistry |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/376838 |
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| _version_ | 1832545490950946816 |
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| author | Luís Silva Monteiro Filomena Salazar Júlio Pacheco Saman Warnakulasuriya |
| author_facet | Luís Silva Monteiro Filomena Salazar Júlio Pacheco Saman Warnakulasuriya |
| author_sort | Luís Silva Monteiro |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | We conducted a questionnaire survey among 602 subjects in order to analyze the awareness and knowledge on oral cancer among residents of the city of Valongo in Portugal. The cancer that most subjects were aware of was breast cancer (99%). Oral cancer was the least mentioned cancer (68.6%). There was awareness of the relationship between oral cancer and smoking among 89.5% subjects, but less of the association with alcohol misuse (63.3%). Nonhealing mouth ulcers were identified as a sign or symptom of oral cancer by 90.0% and red or white patch by only 52.8% subjects. Whereas 94.5% agreed that early detection could improve the treatment outcome, a disheartening 28.1% believed that whether a person developed an oral cancer or not is a matter of luck and therefore is unavoidable. Surprisingly only 1.7% were ever submitted to or had knowledge of receiving a consultation regarding oral cancer. In conclusion, this survey demonstrates a general lack of awareness and knowledge on oral cancer in a population of Valongo. An oral health promotion strategy should involve elements of basic education on oral cancer for this population, and regular oral cancer screenings should be implemented in Valongo. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-2cd3376c08f149ad915dd0b9fc2742f0 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1687-8728 1687-8736 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2012-01-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Dentistry |
| spelling | doaj-art-2cd3376c08f149ad915dd0b9fc2742f02025-02-03T07:25:29ZengWileyInternational Journal of Dentistry1687-87281687-87362012-01-01201210.1155/2012/376838376838Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, PortugalLuís Silva Monteiro0Filomena Salazar1Júlio Pacheco2Saman Warnakulasuriya3Medicine and Oral Surgery Department, Dental Sciences Group, Health Sciences Research Centre, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Norte, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, Paredes, 4585-116 Gandra, PortugalMedicine and Oral Surgery Department, Dental Sciences Group, Health Sciences Research Centre, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Norte, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, Paredes, 4585-116 Gandra, PortugalMedicine and Oral Surgery Department, Dental Sciences Group, Health Sciences Research Centre, Instituto Superior de Ciências da Saúde Norte, Rua Central de Gandra 1317, Paredes, 4585-116 Gandra, PortugalOral Medicine, Department of Clinical and Diagnostic Sciences and WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer, King’s College London Dental Institute, London SE5 9RW, UKWe conducted a questionnaire survey among 602 subjects in order to analyze the awareness and knowledge on oral cancer among residents of the city of Valongo in Portugal. The cancer that most subjects were aware of was breast cancer (99%). Oral cancer was the least mentioned cancer (68.6%). There was awareness of the relationship between oral cancer and smoking among 89.5% subjects, but less of the association with alcohol misuse (63.3%). Nonhealing mouth ulcers were identified as a sign or symptom of oral cancer by 90.0% and red or white patch by only 52.8% subjects. Whereas 94.5% agreed that early detection could improve the treatment outcome, a disheartening 28.1% believed that whether a person developed an oral cancer or not is a matter of luck and therefore is unavoidable. Surprisingly only 1.7% were ever submitted to or had knowledge of receiving a consultation regarding oral cancer. In conclusion, this survey demonstrates a general lack of awareness and knowledge on oral cancer in a population of Valongo. An oral health promotion strategy should involve elements of basic education on oral cancer for this population, and regular oral cancer screenings should be implemented in Valongo.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/376838 |
| spellingShingle | Luís Silva Monteiro Filomena Salazar Júlio Pacheco Saman Warnakulasuriya Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal International Journal of Dentistry |
| title | Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal |
| title_full | Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal |
| title_fullStr | Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal |
| title_full_unstemmed | Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal |
| title_short | Oral Cancer Awareness and Knowledge in the City of Valongo, Portugal |
| title_sort | oral cancer awareness and knowledge in the city of valongo portugal |
| url | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2012/376838 |
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