Abstract

Awareness about Oral Cancer among Dental and Medical Practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-Sectional Study

Author(s):Bahija Basheer, Abdalrhman Alrajhi, Ahmed Alsuawari, Fahad Alotaibi, Hussam Almalki, Faisal Alghanim, Ahmad Jaddoh, Abdulelah Alotaibi, Waleed Albaradie, Nawaf Alotaibi, Khalid Alfozan and Nwaf Alawad

Objective: To assess knowledge, practices, and opinion related to oral cancer among medical and dental practitioners in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A total of 550 Self-administered questioners were at various private and government hospitals/polyclinics in and around Riyadh. A convenient sampling technique was used to recruit the participants for the study, as it was challenging to obtain the updated lists of practitioners from all government and private medical and dental facilities. Dental practitioners, including general and speciaslist dentists and medical practitioners, including general and specialist medical practitioners, who are generally not involved in the examination of the oral cavity, were excluded from the study. Results: Among the 550 participants who met the inclusion criteria, 68.9% were males, while the other 31.1% were females. The mean knowledge score related to oral cancer was 9.5 for medical, and 9.7 for dental practitioners, however, the difference was not statistically significant (p=0.392). ANOVA test was applied to evaluate the differences in the mean scores between medical specialists, dental specialists, general medical practitioners (medical GP), and general dentists (dental GP). The mean score for all sub-groups was less than 15; among them, dental specialists had the highest mean score (10.2), followed by medical GP (9.9), dental GP (9.4), and medical specialist (9.2). Nevertheless, the difference between them was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Conclusion: This research highlights the need to increase knowledge and awareness about oral cancer among practitioners.

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