Abstract
Leukoplakia is an asymptomatic and potentially malignant change in the oral mucosa and high frequencies have been reported among smokers. The present study concerned the prevalence of tobacco use and leukoplakia and also associations between the two. This cross sectional survey was conducted amongst the Gond tribal population of Kundam Block, Jabalpur district, Madhya Pradesh state, Central India during 2007 to 2009. Screening for leukoplakia was conducted by a medical officer with two mouth mirrors. It is only based on visual inspection and oral pathology was not performed. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to collect information on socio-demographic and smoking habits. Prevalence of leukoplakia among users and non-users of tobacco was calculated in terms of percentages. Of 1,552 individuals aged more than 12 years of age who were screened, 144 (9.3%) were found to have oral leukoplakia. The prevalence of leukoplakia was significantly elevated among tobacco users as compared to non-users (11% vs 2.5%; p<0.001). The percentage of leukoplakia was almost similar in both tobacco smokers and chewers (9% vs 11%; p=0.304). However, the percentage of leukoplakia was especially high among those chewers who also smoked tobacco (21.9%). The findings of the present study showed a positive effect of tobacco use and prevalence of leukoplakia. Also the prevalence was very high among Gond tribe, a marginalized population living in central India. There is a need for effective screening and treatment of leukoplakia in this area.
Highlights
Tobacco consumption or exposure to tobacco is an important risk factor for multiple human carcinogenic including lung cancer and those related to oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, liver, bladder, and cervix (World Health Organization, 2004)
The prevalence was very high among Gond tribe, a marginalized population living in central India
In the current communication we report the prevalence of tobacco use and of leukoplakia and its association with tobacco use among the Gond tribe, a marginalized population living in the Kundam Block, Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India
Summary
Tobacco consumption or exposure to tobacco is an important risk factor for multiple human carcinogenic including lung cancer and those related to oral cavity and pharynx, esophagus, pancreas, liver, bladder, and cervix (World Health Organization, 2004). A study on KAP among school going children was done in neighboring state Chhattisgarh reported that 20.4% used tobacco (Tiwari et al, 2014a) Further to these evidences, in the current communication we report the prevalence of tobacco use and of leukoplakia and its association with tobacco use among the Gond tribe, a marginalized population living in the Kundam Block, Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India. In the current communication we report the prevalence of tobacco use and of leukoplakia and its association with tobacco use among the Gond tribe, a marginalized population living in the Kundam Block, Jabalpur district of Madhya Pradesh state in central India This cross sectional survey was conducted during 2007 to 2009 with the objective of estimating the prevalence of tobacco use among them as well as tobacco related morbidity.
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