Jaber Louay, Shaban Sami, Hariri Deema
College of Dentistry, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia.
Int J Health Care Qual Assur. 2012;25(1):64-74. doi: 10.1108/09526861211192412.
Despite the crucial role that healthcare practitioners (HCPs) have in preventing and detecting oral cancer (OC), studies suggest that dentists and physicians do not adequately detect early stage OC which is attributed to their attitude and knowledge. This Saudi Arabian study aims to assess HCP's knowledge and practice vis-à-vis OC's risk factors and patient evaluation.
DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: A questionnaire was distributed to HCPs in six different Saudi Arabian settings. A total of 16 items representing a mixture of OC's risk and non-risk factors were measured.
The study found that only 20.9 percent of HCPs could distinguish 11 items or more correctly. Additionally, when HCPs obtained the patient's medical history, no more than 32.3 percent routinely assessed ten important OC issues. Almost 36 percent of HCPs thought that attending to too many patients prevented them from taking proper medical histories, and 37.6 percent admitted that more training in preventing and detecting OC is needed.
RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Since there is no effective automated system to reach Saudi Arabian practitioners, the number of practitioners involved in this study is limited.
The knowledge and practice of HCPs with relation to OC do not appear to be sufficient and HCPs should have better and more training in OC prevention and early detection.
ORIGINALITY/VALUE: It appears that Saudi Arabian HCPs do not adequately participate in OC's prevention and early detection. It is suggested that continuous education strategies in Saudi Arabia should be reassessed and emphasis given to OC diagnosis.
尽管医疗从业者（HCPs）在预防和检测口腔癌（OC）方面发挥着关键作用，但研究表明，牙医和医生未能充分检测出早期口腔癌，这归因于他们的态度和知识。这项沙特阿拉伯的研究旨在评估医疗从业者关于口腔癌风险因素和患者评估的知识与实践。
设计/方法/途径：向沙特阿拉伯六个不同地区的医疗从业者发放了一份问卷。共测量了16项代表口腔癌风险和非风险因素的混合项目。
该研究发现，只有20.9%的医疗从业者能够正确区分11项或更多项目。此外，当医疗从业者获取患者病史时，常规评估10个重要口腔癌问题的比例不超过32.3%。近36%的医疗从业者认为接待患者过多使他们无法获取完整的病史，37.6%的人承认需要接受更多关于预防和检测口腔癌的培训。
研究局限性/影响：由于没有有效的自动化系统来联系沙特阿拉伯的从业者，参与本研究的从业者数量有限。
医疗从业者关于口腔癌的知识和实践似乎并不充分，医疗从业者应接受更好、更多关于口腔癌预防和早期检测的培训。
原创性/价值：沙特阿拉伯的医疗从业者似乎没有充分参与口腔癌的预防和早期检测。建议重新评估沙特阿拉伯的持续教育策略，并重视口腔癌诊断。
