Oral cancer awareness for smokers and drinkers

Key Points

• Smokers and alcohol drinkers seem to know little about oral cancer.

• There is profound ignorance of the risk among the at-risk population.

• A fatalistic attitude to health and disease fuels this ignorance.

• Standard health education seems not to be engaging with this group.

• Only when these attitudes are understood can effective health promotion be undertaken.

Abstract

Objective To examine the perceptions and understanding of oral cancer among older male drinkers and smokers in the north east of England.

Design Qualitative research using focus group discussions led by an experienced moderator.

Setting Residents of the north east of England in their community.

Subjects Male alcohol drinkers and tobacco smokers over the age of 44 years and by socio-economic grouping.

Results There is a lack of knowledge and understanding of the risk of oral cancer in this whole at-risk population sample. Even those who have direct contact with the disease profess ignorance. Information on health is perceived as confusing or distrusted. Much of this is linked to a fatalistic approach to serious illness.

Conclusions There appears to be a large information gap to bridge, and we need to further understand the target group for oral cancer health promotion; and to use that knowledge to design effective health promotion initiatives.

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