Awareness and health-enhancing behavior of oral cancer among high school students

Streszczenie

Introduction. An increase in head and neck cancers has been observed. Recent findings show an association between those cancers and Human Papillomavirus (HPV) infection. It is known that HPV infections lead to oral cancers, especially among adolescents. Material and methods. An author-delivered questionnaire was carried out among 774 high school students. The survey covered questions about epidemiology, lifestyle, dental behavior, and oral cancer prevention and risk factors. Results. 29.1% of students smoke or vape. 34.9% of respondents think that HPV infections can cause oral cancer. It is believed that transmission occurs through sexual activity (72.2%), vertical (47.5%), horizontal (23.8%), and auto-transmission (14.6%). 20.4% of interviewees noticed changes in their oral mucosa and 20.0% perform mouth self-examination. Conclusions. Students do not have adequate knowledge of oral cancer. Smoking and drinking are still at a high level. The lack of knowledge prevailed in technical schools. Participants attending classes with an advanced curriculum in science had better lifestyle habits than others. There is a need to improve head and neck cancers education and awareness among youth attending technical schools and schools with non-scientific curriculums.