Validation of a Persian Short-Form Version of a Standardised Questionnaire Assessing Oral Cancer Knowledge, Practice and Attitudes Among Dentists

Abstract

abstract:Objectives: Oral cancer is a global health problem; however, many dentists lack the necessary skills, knowledge and capacity to diagnose oral cancers early. This study aimed to examine the validity and reliability of a Persian short-form version of a standardised questionnaire to assess dentists' knowledge, practice and attitudes towards oral cancer. Methods: This cross-sectional analytical study was carried out in May 2015 in Tehran, Iran. An original 39-item English-language questionnaire developed by Yellowitz et al. was translated into Persian using forward and backward translation methods. A total of 15 dental professionals were asked to assess the questionnaire for content validity. Based on their feedback, a 20-item short-form version was prepared, including six demographic, six knowledge, four attitude and four practice items. The translated short-form questionnaire was subsequently distributed to 973 general dental practitioners attending a dental conference in Tehran. Internal consistency and reliability were assessed with Cronbach's alpha coefficient and item-total correlation calculations. Results: A total of 13 professionals and 313 general dentists participated in the study (response rates: 86.7% and 32.2%, respectively). After the elimination of six items (two knowledge, two attitude and two practice items), the validity and reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed. Conclusion: The final Persian 14-item version of the questionnaire had acceptable validity and internal consistency. These results indicate that researchers can use this translated short-form version to evaluate oral cancer knowledge, attitudes and practices among Persian-speaking dentists; this will allow for a comparison of data between different populations.

Current Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice among Health Care Providers in OSCC Awareness: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…The reporting of literature review on the KAP key question showed 55 studies using SPIDER and 11 using the PICO tool, divided per categories as follows: 50 among dentists [ 12 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 38 , 39 , 40 , 41 , 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 54 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 64 , 65 ], eight among physicians [ 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 ,…”

“…Twenty-four studies were conducted in America [ 17 , 18 , 22 , 39 , 43 , 50 , 51 , 52 , 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 , 60 , 61 , 62 , 63 , 65 , 67 , 71 , 73 , 77 , 78 , 81 ], 20 in Europe [ 12 , 27 , 38 , 42 , 44 , 45 , 46 , 47 , 48 , 49 , 53 , 54 , 64 , 66 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 72 , 79 , 80 ], 17 in Asia [ 19 , 20 , 23 , 24 , 29 , 30 , 32 , 33 , 34 , 35 , 36 , 37 , 40 , 41 ,…”

“…Most studies indicated sound knowledge among DDSs about OSCC risk factors like tobacco (26.3–100%) [ 18 , 22 , 29 , 40 , 48 , 55 , 60 ] and past positive OSCC history (75.2–99%) [ 55 , 74 ]. However, considerable variability in knowledge levels was noticed among participants regarding other risk factors, including alcohol (8.1–100%) [ 22 , 51 ], HPV (18.2–93%) [ 24 , 28 ], elderly (21.8–76%) [ 24 , 55 ], diet (6–59.2%) [ 37 , 77 ], and betel quid chewing (25–99.2%) [ 28 , 35 ].…”

“…OPMDs correctly identified by DDSs included leukoplakia (28.4–87%) [ 23 , 45 ], erythroplakia (7.7–82%) [ 23 , 45 ], and oral lichen planus (OLP) (5.7–72%) [ 23 , 49 ]. Regarding clinical picture items, DDSs were generally knowledgeable about OSCC being the most common form of oral cancer (52.6–100%) [ 30 , 39 ], positive lymph node characteristics (48.6–86.2%) [ 29 , 48 ], asymptomatic at early stage (21.5–95.6%) [ 19 , 48 ], OSCC diagnosis at III/IV stage (28–94.7%) [ 43 , 48 ], and tongue high-risk area (46.3–96.8%) [ 19 , 48 ]. Considerable variability in knowledge of common sites of development was noticed regarding tongue (20.4–80.9%) [ 25 , 76 ] and floor of mouth (8.2–86%) [ 32 , 45 ].…”

An instrument calibrated by Item Response Theory to assess knowledge about head and neck cancer

“…The measurement of a latent trait, a characteristic not directly observable, is done indirectly, through the application of a questionnaire, a tool that allows to evaluate this ability. However, the process of creating this instrument is so complex and time-consuming that some studies even advocate exporting questionnaires to other cultures [14][15][16][17] .…”