A Study to Assess the Oral Health Status and Knowledge on Oral Health Hazards among Tobacco Consuming Adults in Nanchiyampalayam, Dharapuram in view of Preparing a self Instructional Module

Abstract

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social and spiritual wellbeing and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. Wellness is the condition in which an individual functions at optimum levels. Oral health is essential to general health and quality of life. It is a state of being free from mouth and facial pain, oral and throat cancer, oral infection and sores, periodontal (gum) disease, tooth decay, tooth loss, and other diseases and disorders that limit an individual's capacity in biting, chewing, smiling, speaking, and psychosocial wellbeing. Dental problems can occur at every stage of life. But some problems happen at a particular stage and age. And particularly in the period of adults, some of the common dental problems faced by adults. They are tooth decay, teeth discoloration and gum diseases. Use of tobacco is a risk factor for oral cancer, oral mucosal lesions, periodontal disease and impaired healing after periodontal treatment, gingival recession, and coronal and root caries. Available evidence suggests that the risks of oral diseases increase with greater use of tobacco and that quitting smoking can result in decreased risk. The magnitude of the effect of tobacco on the occurrence of oral diseases especially oral cancer is high, with users having many times the risk of non-users. Tobacco use is generally perceived as an adult problem. The diseases widely caused by tobacco are mostly seen to afflict the older population, yet tobacco use most often starts in youth, vast majority start consuming tobacco before the age of 25 years. Tobacco use has injurious effects on oral health. The oral health is an important aspect of community health. To plan important interventions it is necessary to find out the prevalence and factors associated with them. This study was aimed to assess the oral health status and knowledge on oral health hazards among tobacco consuming adults in Nanchiyampalayam, Dharapuram in view of preparing a self instructional module. The research approach used for the study was descriptive approach. The Non-experimental descriptive research design was used for this study. The conceptual frame work of the study was based on The Health Belief Model (Rosen Stock 1974 And Becker And Maiman 1975)”. Non probability purposive sampling technique was used to select the 100 samples. The tool used for the study was the oral health assessment tool modified from Kayser-Jones et al. (1995) by Chalmers (2004) for assessing the oral health status and knowledge regarding oral health hazards was assessed by using a structured interview schedule. At the end of the data collection self instructional module regarding effects of tobacco use on oral health was distributed to the samples. Severe cases were instructed to go for further treatment. The collected data were analysed and tabulated by using descriptive and inferential statistics. The data analysis revealed that the mean and standard deviation scores of level of oral health status were 6(SD±3.12) and the mean and standard deviation scores of level of knowledge were 13(SD±5.16) respectively. The‘t’ value was 4.202 which was significant at P<0.05 level of significance. There was a low positive correlation r=0.4 between the oral health status and the level of knowledge on oral health hazards among tobacco consuming adults. There was no significant association of the level of oral health status among tobacco consuming adults with their selected demographic variables except for the age of the adults (χ2=6.81). There was no significant association of the level of knowledge among tobacco consuming with their selected demographic variables except for the age of the adult (χ2=13.09), education (χ2=39.57), monthly income (χ2=16.25), frequency of consuming tobacco (χ2=12.66), and the duration of consuming tobacco (χ2=24.04). The study revealed that even though the adults had good knowledge on hazards of tobacco consumption on oral health they had poor oral health status. The findings of the study support the need for conducting educational programme to increase the knowledge of adults on tobacco consumption and its related problems. Educating the youth and adults with correct information regarding hazards of tobacco consumption can help them to avoid/stop the bad habits and develop a healthy life style.