ASSESSING KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICAL AND DENTALPERSONNEL ABOUT ORAL CANCER

Abstract

The objective of the study was to determine awareness and knowledge of oral cancer among medical and dental personnel of Pakistan.Study was conducted in Combined Military Hospital (CMH) Lahore Medical College. In this cross-sectional study 600 self administered questionnaires comprising of 24 questions on risk factors of oral cancer, screening of oral cancer, premalignant lesions and precursor tissue changes were distributed. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 21. ANOVA significance level was considered as p<0.05.Large percentage of respondents were able to identify smoking (95.1%), betel quid (82.4%), family history (76.6%) and occupation (77.6%) as risk factors of oral cancer whereas only 59.1% of respondents correctly identified HPV (human papilloma virus) a risk factor of oral cancer with higher awareness among medical personnel as compared to dental personnel (p value<0.05). Only 15.9% of the respon-dents were aware of indirect mode of transmission of oral cancer (risk factor through sexual contact).There is a dire need to increase awareness. As medical physicians are most easily accessible by general population in this country, so they should be adequately educated and trained in performing screening examinations to detect oral and pharyngeal cancers in their early stages.