A marketing campaign to promote screening for oral cancer

Organizers of the Detroit Oral Cancer Prevention Project at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, launched a multifaceted media campaign targeted toward a high-risk population to raise awareness about oral cancer, educate the public regarding the importance of early detection and increase screening rates. The authors present data about the effectiveness of the campaign with regard to the screening behaviors of medical and dental providers.

Before the start of the campaign and during each of the three years of the campaign, the authors mailed surveys to random samples of physicians and dentists practicing in targeted and non-targeted areas.

More dentists than physicians reported screening patients routinely, and dentists reported that they referred more patients for biopsy or further evaluation compared with physicians. A larger proportion of dentists and physicians in the targeted area than in the nontargeted area reported that their patients had seen or heard the advertisements. A larger proportion of dentists in the targeted area than in the nontargeted area reported an increase in patients' questions and requests for screening, even after the authors accounted for demographic characteristics (adjusted odds ratio = 2.47).

The survey findings show that the media campaign was effective in influencing providers' screening for signs and symptoms of oral cancer.

An increase in patients' requests for screening as a result of the implementation of mass media campaigns may promote oral cancer screening and improve patients' chances of survival.