Purpose: To identify the gaps in the Jordanian population’s knowledge about oral cancer, screening and attitudes toward screening, in addition to determining the barriers to oral cancer screening.
Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional web-based study was conducted. The first section of the questionnaire employed collected the participants’ sociodemographic data. A question about whether patients had heard about oral cancer was then included, and those who answered ‘no’ were instructed to submit the questionnaire. The subsequent parts evaluated the participants’ knowledge of oral cancer and screening, attitudes toward screening, and barriers against screening. ANOVA and chi-squared tests were conducted to investigate the sample characteristics associated with the participants’ unfamiliarity with oral cancer. Binary regression was conducted to predict the variables associated with the participants’ knowledge and attitudes.
Results: The questionnaire was filled by 1307 participants (1011 females). Most of the participants (70.01%) stated that they had heard of oral cancer, and the variables associated with awareness of oral were sex, monthly income, health insurance coverage, working status, and educational level. Sources of information and age were significantly associated with knowledge and attitude levels. The most ‘agree/strongly agree’ responses about barriers were lack of knowledge and lack of awareness.
Conclusion: The study participants had moderate knowledge about oral cancer and satisfactory attitudes toward screening. Nearly all barriers to screening can be overcome by the joint efforts of healthcare providers and health authorities.
Keywords: attitudes, barriers, Jordan, knowledge, oral cancer, screening
