MATERIALS &METHODS:
All patients at check-in for their otolaryngology clinic appointment
were given a survey with attached informational sheet describing the
study. Clinic staff were instructed to advise patients that we were
conducting a survey to assess head and neck cancer awareness and that
patient participation was voluntary. Completed surveys were collected by
clinic staff prior to check-out. Survey answers and educational
information were displayed at the check-out desk to prevent them being
seen prior to completing the survey. Surveys were later numbered for
record keeping in a randomized blocking schedule.
Patients were included if they were able to read and write in the
English language and were willing to participate in the survey.Albany
County is predominantly English-speaking (86%) and this is reflected in
our clinic population.8Patients were excluded if they
did not answer whether they had a history of head and neck cancer at the
bottom of the survey page or if they made annotations on the survey that
indicated they were answering the questions as their own personal social
history or did not understand the survey. Goal patient accrual was 500
patients with at least 50 patients in the head and neck cancer group
based on power calculations.
The survey asked patients to identify which of 19 different factors had
been scientifically proven to contribute to head and neck cancer as
shown in Figure 1. Acid reflux was later omitted from analysis due to
inconsistent data in the literature. Patients were instructed that not
all factors listed were contributors to head and neck cancer. Patients
were additionally asked if this was their first time completing the
survey, if they had been previously diagnosed with head and neck cancer,
and their reason for otolaryngology appointment.
All surveys that met inclusion/exclusion criteria were entered into
Excel for data analysis. Demographic data including prior diagnosis of
head and neck cancer and reason for visit (primary complaint) were
tabulated. Percentage of patients correctly identifying each item as a
contributor or non-contributor to head and neck cancer was calculated
and compared between the cancer patients and non-cancer patients using
chi-square analysis. A standard p value of less than 0.05 was used to
determine significance. The data that support the findings of this study
are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.