• Saleh Alqaryan, Turki Aldrees, Sharif Almatrafi, Amjad Alharbi, and Humaid Alhumaid.
• Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery, King Saud University Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. E-mail. S.qorian@gmail.com.
• Saudi Med J. 2020 Apr 1; 41 (4): 400-405.

ObjectivesTo address the gap in knowledge by providing data and analyses of the status of awareness among Saudi adults.MethodsThis cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was carried out in Saudi Arabia from August 2018 to August 2019 through social media platforms using SurveyMonkey. The domains of the questionnaire included demographic information, knowledge of types and symptoms of head and neck cancers (HNCs), and the relation of HNCs to human papillomavirus (HPV) and its vaccine.ResultsA total of 3171 respondents completed the questionnaire. The analysis revealed that many of the study respondents (49.3%) were not knowledgeable about HNCs. Almost two-thirds (61.2%) of the study population incorrectly believed that brain cancer was included in HNCs. Over half (57.8%) did not recognize headaches as a symptom. In terms of the risk factors, males showed higher awareness of tobacco and excessive alcohol as risk factors, while females were more knowledgeable about HPV infection (p less than 0.05).ConclusionThis study revealed that there is a lack of knowledge and awareness of the clinical features of and risk factors for HNCs among the Saudi population.

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