Abstract:
Background: Oral cancer has been emerged as a significant global public health concern.
Compared to other South Asian countries the incidence of oral cancers in Sri Lanka is high. In
Sri Lanka out of all cancers registered, 12.4% were reported to be oral cancers. It has the highest
rate of mortality among cancers while oral cancers are found to be the leading cancers among
males in Sri Lanka.
Objectives: To assess the knowledge and attitude regarding oral cancer and self-examination of
the individuals above 30 years of age in Divisional Secretariat Kesbewa (DSK).
Methodology: This was a community based, descriptive cross-sectional study conducted among
170 individuals above 30 years age of both genders in DSK Colombo district, Sri Lanka. Data
were collected using a content validated, a pre-tested interviewer- administered questionnaire.
Written consent was obtained from each participant prior to the study while assuring their
voluntary participation. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation and
SPSS 23.
Results: The response rate was 96.47%. The majority of participants were males (60.4%, n=99)
and were between 30-54 age category (67.1%, n=110). Overall knowledge of the participants
were poor (37.8%, n=62).There was a significant association between participants overall
knowledge and their age (p=0.022). Overall attitude of the participants were positive regarding
oral cancer and self-examination (66.5%, n=109). There was a significant association between
participants attitude and gender (p=0.022). Further, a significant positive correlation between
participants knowledge and attitude on oral cancer and mouth self-examination (Pearson
correlation 0.472, p=0.000) was observed.
Conclusions: Participants knowledge on oral cancer and self-examination of the mouth was
poor while their attitude was positive since there was a positive relationship between knowledge
and the attitude, it shows the requirement of proper health education and health promotion
interventions to improve participants‟ awareness and attitude regarding oral cancer and mouth
self-examination.
