Assessment of knowledge on oral cancer among general public at puducherry

Background: The incidence of oral cancer is highest in India, south and Southeast Asian countries. In India, 90 -95% of the oral cancers is squamous cell carcinoma. The international agency for research on cancer has predicted that India's incidence of cancer will increase from 1 million in 2012 to more than 1.7 million in 2035. This indicates that the death rate because of cancer will also increase from 680000 to 1- 2 million in the same period. In India, 20 per 100000 population are affected by oral cancer which accounts for about 30% of all types of cancer. Over 5 people in India die every hour everyday because of oral cancer and the same number of people die from cancer in oropharynx and hypo pharynx (Varshith, 2015). Aim: The present study aims to identify the level of knowledge on Oral cancer among general public Methods: The cross sectional descriptive study conducted in 297 samples. The subjects were selected based on convenient sampling technique. Results: The level of knowledge on oral cancer out of 297 participants, 27(9.09%) had poor knowledge, 109(36.7%) have good knowledge, 102 (34.34) had average knowledge, 56(18.85%) had very good knowledge and 3 (1.01%) had excellent knowledge. The mean value for the knowledge on oral cancer among the study participant was 8.29. Conclusion: From this study out of 297 participants 109(36.7%) have good knowledge 102(34.34 %) have average knowledge, 56(18.85%) have very good knowledge, 27(9.09%) have poor knowledge and 3(1.01%) have excellent knowledge. It was found who had history of tobacco chewing, smoking habits and alcohol consumption was found poor knowledge about the causes of oral cancer. The results were statistically significant.