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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Public Health
Sec. Radiation and Health
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2024.1461808

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Toward Advanced Precision Radiotherapy among Patients with Head and Neck Cancer

Provisionally accepted
Zhanfei Guo Zhanfei Guo 1,2Qingrui Cai Qingrui Cai 3*Bingbing Liu Bingbing Liu 1*Liufang Zhao Liufang Zhao 4Yanyan Xie Yanyan Xie 5*Zhijia Li Zhijia Li 2*Rui Liu Rui Liu 2*Yunxiao Wang Yunxiao Wang 2*Xiaodan Chen Xiaodan Chen 5*Zhiwei Zhang Zhiwei Zhang 1,2*
  • 1 College of Clinical Medicine, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
  • 2 Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
  • 3 Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
  • 4 First Department of Head and Neck Surgery, Yunnan Cancer Hospital, Kunming, China
  • 5 Department of Medical Oncology ,The People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Advancements in radiotherapy (RT) technology have led to the prominence of precision RT in head and neck cancer (HNC) treatment. The new progress in precision RT offers more efficient therapy, potentially improving outcomes for HNC patients. Objective: The present cross-sectional study aimed to assess the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of patients in advanced precision RT for HNC treatment. Methods: This study enrolled HNC patients at the Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering between October 2023 and May 2024. Then, the demographic data and KAP scores were collected using an investigator-designed questionnaire. Afterwards, descriptive statistics were provided for all study variables, and the relationship among KAP was analyzed using appropriate statistical tests, including Spearman correlation, logistic regression, and path analysis. Results: A total of 436 participants with a mean age of 52.03±12.19 years old were included. The mean knowledge score, attitude score, and practice score were 18.33±4.21, 36.14±1.71, and 26.26±1.83, respectively. Although most of the participants were unfamiliar with advanced precision RT, they expressed a high willingness to follow their doctor's recommendation for this treatment. The multivariable analysis revealed a positive association between attitude score and proactive practice. The path analysis revealed that knowledge directly influenced attitude and practice, while attitude directly impacted practice. Conclusion: HNC participants had poor knowledge of advanced precision RT techniques, but had a positive attitude and the willingness to undergo treatment when recommended by their physicians. These results suggest that improving patients' awareness for advanced precision RT can help to promote better attitude and advanced precision RT practice.

    Keywords: knowledge, Attitude, Practice, precision radiotherapy, head and neck cancer

    Received: 09 Jul 2024; Accepted: 27 Sep 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Guo, Cai, Liu, Zhao, Xie, Li, Liu, Wang, Chen and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Qingrui Cai, Department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Bingbing Liu, College of Clinical Medicine, Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Yanyan Xie, Department of Medical Oncology ,The People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, China
    Zhijia Li, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Rui Liu, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Yunxiao Wang, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China
    Xiaodan Chen, Department of Medical Oncology ,The People's Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Nanning, China
    Zhiwei Zhang, Department of Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Hebei University of Engineering, Handan, China

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