Saini Rajan, Ghani Zul Izzi Bin Nordin, Rahman Normastura Ab
School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Health Campus, Malaysia.
Singapore Dent J. 2006 Dec;28(1):34-9.
Lack of awareness of signs and symptoms and risk factors of oral cancer can lead to late presentation of the disease that contributes to poor survival of patients who contract it. This study aims to determine the level of awareness regarding oral cancer in adult patients attending School of Dental Sciences, Universiti Sains Malaysia.
This was a cross-sectional study in which face-to-face interview of 108 subjects aged 20-65 was conducted. The questionnaire consisted of personnel details and questions regarding awareness of risk factors, complications, signs and symptoms, and prevention of oral cancer. Each response was assigned scores where one (1) mark was given for a correct answer and one (1) mark was subtracted for every wrong answer. The scores were added up to obtain total individual score.
Majority of the patients interviewed were from the age range of 20-29. Most of the respondents were Malays with females having a higher percentage (52.8%) than males (47.2%). Majority of the patients (89.9%) were aware regarding the presence of the oral cancer. However, there was no significant association of age range and gender (p > 0.05). 96.7% of subjects who have had higher education were significantly more aware about the presence of oral cancer when compared to those without any schooling (p < 0.05). There was a high awareness of the link between smoking, tobacco chewing, betel nut chewing, and alcohol (93.5%, 85.2%, 75.9%, and 68.5%, respectively) with oral cancer. Almost three-fourth (73%) scored between 10 and 19 out of the maximum of 23 with the mean score of 13.4 (standard deviation, 4.37). All our subjects agreed that early detection of oral cancer could improve chances of successfully treating them.
There was a moderate level of awareness regarding oral cancer towards its risk factors, complications, signs and symptoms, and prevention of oral cancer.
对口腔癌体征、症状及危险因素缺乏认知会导致疾病发现延迟，进而致使患病患者的生存率降低。本研究旨在确定马来西亚理科大学牙科学院成年患者对口腔癌的认知水平。
这是一项横断面研究，对108名年龄在20至65岁之间的受试者进行了面对面访谈。问卷包括个人详细信息以及关于危险因素、并发症、体征和症状以及口腔癌预防的认知问题。每个回答都被赋予分数，正确答案得1分，错误答案扣1分。将分数相加得到个人总分。
接受访谈的患者大多数年龄在20至29岁之间。大多数受访者为马来人，女性比例（52.8%）高于男性（47.2%）。大多数患者（89.9%）知晓口腔癌的存在。然而，年龄范围与性别之间无显著关联（p>0.05）。与未受过任何教育的受试者相比，96.7%受过高等教育的受试者对口腔癌存在的认知明显更高（p<0.05）。对吸烟、咀嚼烟草、咀嚼槟榔和饮酒与口腔癌之间的关联认知度较高（分别为93.5%、85.2%、75.9%和68.5%）。几乎四分之三（73%）的人在满分23分中得分在10至19分之间，平均分为13.4分（标准差为4.37）。所有受试者都认为早期发现口腔癌可以提高成功治疗的几率。
在口腔癌的危险因素、并发症、体征和症状以及预防方面，存在中等水平的认知。
