فهرست نشریات علمی دسترسی آزاد ایران

CONTEXT: Oral cancer is preceded by visible changes in the oral mucosa. These lesions can bedetected by oral self‑examination, but awareness about oral cancer is still low in developing countries.AIM: To evaluate the effect of health education on awareness about oral cancer and oralself‑examination.SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Quasi‑experimental trial was conducted in an urban resettlement colonyof Chandigarh, India.MATERIALS AND METHODS: A brochure having information and pictorials on oral lesions wasused for conducting health education sessions on a one‑to‑one basis in the household settingamong 85 males in age group 15–59 years during 2013, and each participant was encouragedto perform an oral self‑examination. Study participants were interviewed about their awarenesson oral cancer and oral self‑examination before‑ and after‑health education using a pretestedinterview schedule.STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: Awareness items were scored, and mean change in awareness scorewas computed. Paired t‑test was used for testing statistical significance.RESULTS: Thirty‑three percent of the study participants were current smokers, 25% consumedalcohol, and 9.4% chewed tobacco. The awareness scores after health education increasedsignificantly from 5.3 to 6.7 (P < 0.05), and 34% of the tobacco or alcohol users expressed theirintention to quit these habits, and two persons actually quit tobacco chewing. Out of the 77 studyparticipants who performed oral self‑examination, nine were able to detect lesions, and one wasfound to have submucous fibrosis.CONCLUSIONS: Health education intervention was able to initiate a favorable behavior change inthe community. Hence, oral self‑examination programs should be promoted.