ASSESSING DISPARITIES IN ORAL CANCER AWARENESS: A COMPARISON BETWEEN TOBACCO USERS AND NON-TOBACCO USERS FROM A PRIVATE DENTAL COLLEGE, KARACHI

Abstract

 Objective: Study aims to assess the awareness about oral cancer among patients visiting private dental
 college, Karachi.
 Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the outpatient department of a private dental college
 and hospital in Karachi. A predesigned questionnaire was used to find out the information from the study
 participants. Patients aged 18 years and above were included. Descriptive statistics and chi-square tests
 were used for data analysis.
 Results: Total of 384 participants were recruited. Of these, 51 (13.3%) were females and the mean age
 of the total sample was 35.19 years (SD ± 13.942) [R: 18-75 years]. Eighty-one percent of the participants
 heard about oral cancer. Among those who were aware, 201 (52.3%) mentioned social media as the main
 source of information, while only 34 (8.90%) mentioned dentists as a source. There were 253 (65.9%)
 participants who had a practice of using tobacco either in the form of smoking, Gutkha or pan.
 Conclusion: These results underscore the need for targeted oral cancer awareness campaigns, especially
 focusing on unemployed individuals and promoting diverse sources of information dissemination