Effectiveness of an oral and pharyngeal cancer awareness program for health professionals

Background. Of approximately 31,000 patients diagnosed as having oral/phary ngeal cancers (OPCs) each year in the United States, about half will die of the disease within five years, for reasons associated with patient behavio rs as well as delays in diagnosis by health care professionals. Methods. To address an apparent lack of OPC knowledge of health care professionals, a brief, non-discipline-specific, multi-component educational intervention wa s designed and presented to 352 health care professionals in community heal th centers and hospital training programs. OPC knowledge was assessed befor e and three months after the intervention. Results. A 44% post-intervention response rate was obtained. There were significant (p less than or equal t o 0.05) increases in knowledge regarding oral sites at risk for OPC, etiolo gic factors, and early signs and symptoms. There were significant interacti ons (p less than or equal to 0.01) between increases in knowledge and vario us health provider groups. A significant increase in perceived competency i n OPC knowledge (p less than or equal to 0.001) was reported, and significa ntly fewer participants felt the need for additional training. Conclusion. A brief, multi-component educational intervention can increase health care professionals' knowledge regarding OPC.