Title: Level of awareness, knowledge and involvement of Malaysian medical and dental practitioners in dysphagia management of head and neck cancer patients

Abstract

Head and neck cancer patients are at high risk of developing dysphagia from undergoing cancer treatment. It is essential for medical and dental practitioners to recognize speech-language pathologists' role and dysphagia symptoms to provide a timely referral to speech-language pathologists. This study aims to determine the level of awareness, knowledge, and involvement of medical and dental practitioners in dysphagia management. A total of 391 medical and dental practitioners from 22 government hospitals across Malaysia participated in this cross-sectional study. Participants completed the questionnaire specifically on the level of involvement, knowledge, awareness regarding the role of SLP and dysphagia symptoms. The results revealed a statistically significant relationship between the level of awareness of the role of SLP, χ²(4, 391) = 9.87, p = 0.043 and the level of involvement of medical and dental practitioners, χ²(8, 391) = 27.68, p = 0.001 and percentage of referring head and neck cancer patients. The odds of referring head and neck cancer patients for pre-treatment assessment increased 3 times for each 1 unit of the participation of medical and dental practitioners [OR] 3.65 (1.56, 8.51) p = 0.003 among those who are already highly involved in dysphagia management. These findings compel healthcare practitioners in head and neck cancer to revisit their collaborative practices. Head and neck cancer patients should receive swallowing management from speech-language pathologists to improve their swallowing function and avoid further complications such as dehydration, malnutrition, and death.