Assessment of Head and Neck Cancer Knowledge and Awareness Levels among Undergraduate Dental Students at King Abdulaziz University Faculty of Dentistry

Cancer is one of the primary fatal health issues facing populations across the globe, and head and neck cancer (HNC) is the 9th most common cancer worldwide [1]. Head and neck cancer includes malignancies that primarily arise from the lip, oral cavity, nasal cavity, paranasal sinuses, salivary gland, pharynx and larynx [1]. Many factors increase the risk of developing HNC, but smoking and alcohol consumption have been reported to be the most related factors. However, other factors including human papilloma virus (HPV), oral health status and dietary habits are also considered to be important participating factors [2]. The 5-year survival rate of HNC is still averaging 50%, and early detection is key to a positive prognosis [3]. In recent study conducted in a subpopulation of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, 68% of participants had deficient of knowledge about HNC [4]. In addition, 82% of the participants had never been screened for HNC [4]. Dentists and undergraduate dental students play a major role in the early detection of HNC [5]. Therefore, increasing knowledge and awareness and changing the attitudes of graduate dentists toward HNC management will definitely facilitate early diagnoses of the disease and improve survival rates. Only a limited number of studies have been conducted in different countries to assess the level of knowledge and awareness of HNC among undergraduate students. These studies assessed several parameters including the level of knowledge, ability to perform HNC screening, and the ability to diagnose and manage an identified case [5-8]. Although HNC education is part of the undergraduate dental student education curriculum in almost every dental school around the world, all of the reported studies unfortunately concluded that undergraduate dental students possess insufficient knowledge and a lack of clinical training to properly manage the disease. Thus, improvement is urgently needed in these fields [5-8]. Therefore, the aim of the current study was to assess HNC knowledge and awareness levels among undergraduate dental students at King Abdulaziz University, Faculty of Dentistry (KAUFD), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to identify areas in which knowledge gaps exist and should be managed.