Tadbir Azadeh Andisheh, Ebrahimi Hooman, Pourshahidi Sara, Zeraatkar Maryam
Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Dental School, Shiraz Medical University, Shiraz, Iran.
Asian Pac J Cancer Prev. 2013;14(4):2217-20. doi: 10.7314/apjcp.2013.14.4.2217.
Knowledge regarding risk factors and primary signs of oral cancer in the general population can help them to avoid risky behaviour and seek timely advice from a physician. The aim of this study was to survey adult knowledge about risk factors and signs of oral cancer in Shiraz Dental University.
In this descriptive cross-sectional study using an investigator-made questionnaire, 783 adults who were referred to Shiraz Dental University participated. Questionnaire data were analyzed by ANOVA and T-test.
The results showed that 32.3% of participants were aware of oral cancer and gained their knowledge from the media. The risk factors mentioned by these participants was as follows: sunlight 30.8%, hot and peppery food 40.7%, alcoholic drinks 47.4% and smoking 73.6% (there was significant relationship for drinking alcohol and gender, education and times of using dental service, p<0.05). They also mentioned the primary signs of oral cancer as follows: red patch without pain 27.8%, white patch without pain 13.5% and prolong scarring without pain 56.7% (there was significant relationship between these three signs and education and times of using dental service, p<0.05). The mean knowledge about the risk factors and signs of oral cancer were 1.94 from 5 with 1.14 standard deviation and 0.96 from 3 with 0.93 standard deviation.
The observed low level of knowledge of people regarding both risk factors and signs of oral cancer emphasizes the need for more efforts to be made about the above mentioned issues by the media.
了解普通人群口腔癌的危险因素和主要症状，有助于他们避免危险行为，并及时寻求医生的建议。本研究的目的是调查设拉子牙科大学成年人对口腔癌危险因素和症状的了解情况。
在这项描述性横断面研究中，使用自行编制的问卷，783名到设拉子牙科大学就诊的成年人参与了调查。问卷数据采用方差分析和t检验进行分析。
结果显示，32.3%的参与者知晓口腔癌，且他们的知识来源于媒体。这些参与者提到的危险因素如下：阳光照射30.8%、辛辣食物40.7%、酒精饮料47.4%和吸烟73.6%（饮酒与性别、教育程度和牙科服务使用次数之间存在显著关系，p<0.05）。他们还提到了口腔癌的主要症状如下：无痛红色斑块27.8%、无痛白色斑块13.5%和无痛长期瘢痕56.7%（这三种症状与教育程度和牙科服务使用次数之间存在显著关系，p<0.05）。关于口腔癌危险因素和症状的平均知识得分，5分制中为1.94分，标准差为1.14；3分制中为0.96分，标准差为0.93。
观察到人们对口腔癌危险因素和症状的了解程度较低，这强调媒体需要在上述问题上做出更多努力。
