Dental hygienists\u27 role in education of oropharyngeal cancers caused by human papillomaviruses: a thesis

This qualitative design study collected Likert style survey data to describe feelings, perceptions, and attitudes of dental hygienists about their knowledge about oral HPV and its associated risks for OPC. The research quantitatively analyzed the dental hygienists responses from the survey to determine if relationships exist based upon dental hygienists\u27 demographics and knowledge, comfort, and likelihood to discuss oral HPV and HPV vaccine options with patients. The survey found that 81% of surveyed dental hygienists perform an intraoral exam on every patient they care for (n =341, 80.61%). The respondents also indicated that 49.88% (n=212) of dental hygiene patients complete a risk for oral cancer assessment. As a whole, dental hygienists are aware the incidence of oral HPV in oropharyngeal cancers is rising (n=400, 96.15%). They believe it is important for dental hygienists to provide oral HPV education to their patients and report feeling comfortable (n=257, 61.2%) and knowledgeable (n=296, 69.98%) to be doing so. However, the survey found 53.44% (n=225) of dental hygienists do not discuss the risk of oral cancers developing with HPV present and 61.81 (n=246) do not discuss the mode of transmission of oral HPV. They feel they would be more comfortable and likely to discuss oral HPV education with patients if they had more knowledge on the subject --Document