26% unaware of oral cavity cancer screening: Survey

Guwahati: 26.8% of the respondents who participated in a survey on awareness of oral cavity or mouth cancer, conducted by city-based Dr. B Borooah Cancer Institute (BBCI), has never heard about oral cavity cancer screening for its early detection. The survey was conducted by the department of Preventive Oncology at BBCI where a total of 250 participants were asked questions to understand the different levels of awareness about mouth cancer.

"A total of 42 (16.8%) respondents do not know about the signs and symptoms of mouth cancer. But it is more surprising that 67 (26.8%) respondents have never even heard about oral cavity cancer screening for its early detection. It was seen in the survey that 120 (48%) respondents were unaware that people who are 30-60 years of age should get their mouth examined by a dentist or doctor or even trained healthcare workers every 3 years for good oral hygiene and prevention of oral cancer," BBCI associate professor Srabana Misra Bhagabaty said.

The professor added, "It was seen that 12 (4.8%) participants did not know that cancer can occur in the mouth or oral cavity while twenty-six (12.4%) respondents were completely unaware that tobacco chewing can cause mouth cancer. Of the respondents who were aware, 218 (97.3%) responses noted that tobacco in any form was risk factor for mouth cancer, 172 (76.7%) responses noted that areca nut chewing, khaini, zarda, etc consumption can result in mouth cancer, and poor dental hygiene as risk for mouth cancer was seen in 120 (53.5%) responses.

Similarly, it was shocking that many respondents were unaware that early detection of oral cancer can cure it. It was good to note from the survey that 138 (55.2%) respondents were aware about self-oral examination, which can detect early cancerous changes in the mouth, Bhagabaty said.

According to BBCI director Amal Chandra Kataki, awareness about cancer among the general public is a key element in the collective fight against it.

"The idea of conducting the survey is to understand the level of awareness among the general public on three common cancers in our population, namely, oral, breast, and uterine cervical cancers. The results of the other two surveys will be out soon. The high proportion of people in the present survey were unaware about regular or timely visits for oral health check-ups, which means most of our population has poor oral health," Kataki added.

The age of the participants ranged from 25 years to 59 years. One hundred and twenty four (49.6%) and 126 (50.4%) participants of the survey were men and women, respectively. Among them, 120 (48%) were from rural areas, 119 (47.6%) were from urban areas, and 11 (4.4%) participants were from semi-urban locations.

In the survey, 98 (39.2%) participants were educated with postgraduate qualifications, 68 (27.2%) were graduates, and 84 (33.6%) participants had below graduate qualifications.