Oral Cancer Awareness Among Patients Attending Health Centers in Trinidad

Objectives: To assess oral cancer awareness and beliefs, risk perception, knowledge of risk factors, signs and symptoms and the extent of previous willingness to participate in oral cancer screening among adults in Trinidad. Method: Structured interviews administered to consecutive patients attending 10 randomly selected health centres throughout Trinidad. Bivariate analyses were used to examine awareness and knowledge of oral cancer. Results: 880 persons were interviewed, mean age 49.3 years (sd 15.8). Participants awareness of oral cancer was low, with only 54.6% of the sample having heard of oral cancer. Awareness of following oral cancer risk factors were smoking(86.4%), radiation (70.1%), familial or genetic predisposition (76.4%), and infections (76.4%). Awareness of other established risk factors such as excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, excessive exposure to sunlight were reported as 50.8%, 53.5% and 46% respectively. Persistent ulcer, and a new growth, were correctly identified by 78% of the sample. Less than 45% correctly identified chronic jaw ache, leukoplakia and erythroplakia as signs of oral cancer. Ninety-six percent of the sample believed that early detection of cancer can improve the chances of successfully treating them and 91.4% agreed with the statement that people can change the way they live to reduce their risk of developing cancer. Thirty eight per cent agreed that developing cancer is a matter of chance and thus unavoidable. Only 13.5% participants reported having been screened for oral cancer but willingness to undergo a free oral cancer screening examination was high (97.3%). Conclusion: Oral health promotion strategies in Trinidad should include providing information to the population on oral cancer risk factors, its signs and symptoms along with organized oral cancer screening programmes, for at risk groups