AWARENESS AND KNOWLEDGE OF TOBACCO ASSOCIATED RISK OF ORAL CANCER AMONG DENTAL PATIENTS: A SURVEY BASED QUESTIONNAIRE STUDY

Abstract

Background: India ranks second in the world in tobacco production and of great import from the public health perspective, ranks third in tobacco consumption. It is estimated that the current global pattern of tobacco use will lead to the premature deaths of 250 million children and adolescents, most of them in developing countries. Therefore the aim of the present study was to assess the levels of awareness, knowledge about signs and risk factors of oral cancer. Methods: This hospital based cross sectional study was done to assess the awareness and knowledge of oral cancer in a population attending the dental out patient department of Index institute of dental sciences Indore. All the patients of the age of 18 years and above who was willing to participate were included in the study. Results: A total 300 questionnaires were analyzed, out of which male were 198 and female were 102 . Among them 93 patients were indulged in the habits of smoking and 176 of them were chewing smokeless form of tobacco. The habit of both smoking and smokeless tobacco was seen in 31 patients. When assessed for the prevalence according to the gender males were indulged predominantly in smoking than female. More than half of the subjects 178 were aware of related risk of development of oral cancer when compared gender wise male were more aware of harmful effect of oral cancer than females. Conclusion: This study concluded that the dental patients still had a lack of awareness regarding the risk of oral cancer, early signs and symptoms and the benefits of detecting this disease at an early stage.