Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of General Dentists in Rasht City Regarding Oral Cancer

Aims: This study assessed the knowledge, attitude, and practice of general dentists in Rasht City, Iran, regarding oral cancer. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on ۱۲۹ randomly selected general dentists practicing in Rasht City, Iran in ۲۰۲۲. A researcher-designed questionnaire with four sections of demographics, knowledge (nine questions), attitude (seven questions), and practice (eight questions) was used for data collection after confirming its validity and reliability. Data were analyzed by the Chi-square test, Fisher’s exact test, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient (alpha=۰.۰۵). Findings: The mean knowledge score of the participants was ۵.۳۹±۱.۹۶ (out of nine). Most subjects (۴۸.۱%) had a moderate knowledge level. Knowledge level had a significant inverse correlation with age, time passed since graduation, and the attending university. The mean attitude score of the participants was ۲۶.۴±۲.۷۲ (out of ۳۵) and most of them (۶۵.۹%) had a positive attitude in this regard. Attitude had no significant correlation with any sociodemographic variable. The mean practice score of the participants was ۱۸.۱۸±۲.۵۳ (out of ۲۴), and the majority of them (۶۳.۶%) had a moderate practice regarding oral cancer. The practice had a significant correlation only with participation in continuing education courses (p<۰.۰۵). Practice and knowledge, and also attitude and knowledge had a significant positive correlation with each other.  Conclusions: The knowledge and practice of the majority of general dentists in Rasht were moderate regarding oral cancer, which is alarming and calls for improvement in the quality of instruction and continuing education courses.

کلیدواژه ها:

Mouth Neoplasms ، Dentists ، Knowledge ، Professional Practice ، Attitude