Oral Cancer Awareness of People Attending the Oral Medicine Center of Zahedan Dental School

Abstract

Abstract: Despite persistent attention to early detection and treatment, cancer remains important public health problem and cause of death. Squamous cell carcinoma(SCC) is the most common malignant neoplasm of the oral cavity. Oral SCC is a important public health threat over the world. W e studied to access awareness about oral cancer among patients attending for dental treatment at dental school. W e studied in a cross sectional -descriptive survey 200 persons attending to oral medicine center of Zahedan dental school. The questionnaire consisted of 14 questions about demographic information and signs and symptoms, risk factors of oral cancer. Finally, the achieved information analyzed by SPSS 13 software and statistic test of chi square. Patient's knowledge level about oral cancer were as follow: Among the people, %37 of patients had poor knowledge, %57.5 moderate knowledge and %5.5 good knowledge about oral cancer. The relation between the studied patient's knowledge with educational level was significant (P<0.05). Gender, age, occupation and source of information did not have significant relation with patient's oral cancer knowledge (P>0.05). Majority of the respondents had moderate level of knowledge about oral cancer. There was a significant relationship between educational level and oral cancer knowledge