Awareness and Knowledge of Oral Cancer in Rural Population

Corresponding author:Dr. Gaurav Singh,Associate Professor, Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Shree Bankey Bihari Dental College, Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh This article may be cited as: Singh G, Singh P Awareness and Knowledge of Oral Cancerin Rural Population. Int J Com Health and Med Res 2017;3(1):72-76 Article Received: 08-02-17 Accepted On: 23-02-2017 NTRODUCTION Oral cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. Oral and pharyngeal cancers grouped together are the sixth most common cancers in the world. Recent trends have shown a decline in the incidence of lip and oral cavity cancers in Australia. This decline is in line with the decline in trends of tobacco and alcohol consumption (OECD, 2011). This actually reveals the everincreasing responsiveness on the consequences of tobacco and alcohol usage and its overall impacts on oral carcinomas and other diseases. Even if the current decline in oral carcinoma prevalence is hopeful, it is still moderately high in contrast with rest of the places on globe. Furthermore, literature has also evidenced that HPV associated pharyngeal carcinomas are increasing at a faster rate in Australia and some other countries in the world.Almost 90% of oral cancers are squamous cell carcinomas . Smoking, alcohol use, smokeless tobacco products, and HPV infections are the major risk factors, with an attributable risk of oral cancer due to both tobacco and alcohol of 80% .Despite recent advances in the detection and treatment of cancer, visual accessibility of the oral mucosa, and the scientific knowledge on cancer risk factors, oral cancer carries a low survival rate (near 50%) . Earlier diagnosis greatly increases patient’s chances of survival as the mouth is very accessible for a clinical or self-examination . However, oral cancer is still frequently diagnosed in advanced stages. The reason may be attributed on the basis of deficit of available information regarding the etiology and knowledge of signs and symptoms of oral carcinomas. Additionally, majority of oral carcinomas may be checked if populaces know which risk factors they should eradicate. In Portugal, a study on oral cancer I Original Research BackgroundOral cancer is a major public health problem worldwide. Oral and pharyngeal cancers grouped together are the sixth most common cancers in the world. In a latest estimation, relative incidence of oral cancer around the world is about 263,861 in the year 2008. However, in Portugal the oral cancer was reported to be 6th most common cancer in males, wherein 777 fresh cases and 248 new cases amongst females. Materials and method-A questionnaire based descriptive survey carried out in which a total of 300 people were selected from the daily OPD who gave their consent and participated in this survey, this survey included patients who came seeking dental treatment at the institute from the rural areas. The questionnaire carried out which contained 10 questions regarding oral cancer awareness, knowledge and peoples approach towards a patient of oral cancer. Results The study population consisted of 44.3% females and 55.7% males with an average age of 34 years (range 12-80 years) 91.9% of the subjects said that they have heard about the oral cancer and 85.8 % people said that the main cause of oral cancer is smoking and chewing habits. ConclusionThe final goal of all programs is to decrease the incidence and frequency of disease and improve the effectiveness of treatment modalities. Community health workers, dental surgeons and allied medical professionals should take the initiatives to organize low-cost educational programmesthat are designed and launched to reach less privileged groups in our society. KeywordsAwareness, Oral cancer, Self examination, Morbidity DOI: 10.21276/ijchmr.2017.3.1.15