Knowledge of the Population of the State of Pernambuco - Brazil about Oral Cancer and Risk Factors

Objective: To verify the knowledge of the population of the State of Pernambuco about oral cancer and identify individuals exposed to risk factors recognized in the literature. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted with the population of 54 cities of the State of Pernambuco between January 2005 and December 2009. People were visited at their homes, schools, associations, councils, public and private companies and outpatient health services. After agreeing to participate in the study and signing an informed consent form, a questionnaire was applied to the subjects. Information was collected to assess their knowledge about the disease, risk factors, prevention and self-exam. In parallel, refreshing/capacitation courses for the prevention and differential and early diagnosis of oral cancer were offered to the oral health teams of the cities involved in the study. Data were subjected to descriptive and statistical analyses using the chi-square test (BioEstat 3.0 software). Results: A sample of 43,200 (100%) people filled out the questionnaire and took part in educative/ preventive activities, being 25,488(59%) females and 17,712 (41%) males. The mean age was 42.3 years (range: 7 to 103 years). As much as 25,920 (60%) people had already heard about the disease, but they were not able to associate the risk factors correctly, although 24,192 (56%) were exposed to them. Male individuals were found to be more significantly exposed to the risk factors that females, as shown by the chi-square test (a=0.05; p< 0.01). It was observed in the present study that, despite tooth loss, prosthetic rehabilitation is not usual. Conclusion: Part of population recognizes the risk factors associated with oral cancer, although many people are not aware of them even being exposed to them. Smoking, alcoholism and direct sunlight exposure were identified as predominant risk factors in this sample.