Oral cancer risk assessment, examination and prevention Version 2.0
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Oral (mouth) cancer risk assessment, examination and prevention: patients’ views and experiences to develop an intervention to implement best practice and clinical guidelines in general dental practices in Scotland and Sultanate of Oman
IRAS ID
218059
Contact name
David Conway
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde
Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier
169392-01, Project number (organisation)
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 1 months, 30 days
Research summary
Globally, oral cavity (mouth) cancer (OCC) is the 6th most common cancer; there were an estimated 442,760 new cases of OCC diagnosed and approximately 241,418 deaths recorded in 2012. The predicted increase in incidence coupled with high mortality and poor prognosis of OCC – particularly when diagnosed at late/advanced stage – highlights the need for prevention and early detection/screening to reverse these trends. The major recognised risk factors for OCC include smoking and alcohol consumption. In addition, there is a significant increased risk for OCC among lower socioeconomic groups, males and older age. Dental professionals in primary care have a pivotal role in OCC early detection/screening and prevention (e.g. smoking cessation, reducing alcohol-related harm).
We systematically reviewed the available literature to identify best practice evidence for OCC early detection and prevention. We identified a need to investigate the feasibility of translating this evidence to a pilot to support dental professionals in daily preventive care. We interviewed dental professionals to test feasibility and identify barriers/facilitators to implementation of reviewed evidence in General Dental Practices (GDPs).
We are now proposing to have interviews with patients attending GDPs in Scotland (NHS dental practices in Greater Glasgow and Clyde) and Sultanate of Oman, to gather their suggestions to inform development of an OCC early detection and prevention intervention package. The study is a qualitative study- involves short tape-recorded (with written consent) semi-structured interviews. Adult patients attending GDPs will be invited to participate in a 20-25-minute face-to-face interview by one researcher. We are aiming at n=48 interviews, 24 in each country. We will exclude participants who cannot speak or understand English (in Scotland), and those with significant oral disease or emergency appointments or incapacity issues.
This application is for Scottish study only; separate ethical approval is being obtained for Sultanate of Oman (see A6-2 for Oman ethics).
REC name
South Central - Berkshire B Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
17/SC/0054
Date of REC Opinion
24 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion