Authors
Rola Shadid
Mohammad Amid Abu Ali
Omar Kujan
Pages From
381
Pages To
390
ISSN
s12903-022-02415-8
Journal Name
springer
Volume
22
Issue
2022
Keywords
Keywords: Oral cancer, Knowledge, Practice, Attitude, Dental students, Interns, Palestine
Abstract

Background: Oral cancer is frequently characterized with an aggressive behavior and an unfavorable prognosis; however, it is generally associated with promising prognosis if detected early. Therefore, this study aimed to assess knowledge, practices, and attitudes toward oral cancer prevention among dental students and interns; and to investi-gate the factors that influence their practices of oral cancer screening or prevention.Material and methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based survey was conducted between March and April of 2022 on the fourth- and fifth-year undergraduate dental students and interns in the College of Dentistry at Arab American University in Palestine. A 48-item questionnaire which has 4 sections: demographics, knowledge, practices, and attitudes toward oral cancer prevention and early detection was sent to all eligible participants (N = 570).Results: The response rate was 68.7% (N = 351). About 66.8% of the respondents had poor knowledge about oral cancer and its risk factors, and 85.5% had a poor practice of oral cancer early detection and prevention; however, the majority of the respondents (81.1%) had shown favorable attitudes toward oral cancer prevention. Interns had significantly better knowledge and attitude scores compared to the undergraduate dental students (P 0.05). Lack of training, time, confidence, and effectiveness were stated among the barriers to oral cancer screening.Conclusions: Most of the participants surveyed in this study appeared to lack adequate knowledge and skills in oral cancer prevention and early detection; however, they seemed to have good motivation and a good attitude toward oral cancer prevention training.