Discover the critical link between tobacco use and oral cancer, and learn how a cutting-edge Transtheoretical Model is revolutionizing the way we assess and support individuals ready to quit for their health.
– by The Don
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Oral Cancer Hazards Related to Tobacco Use and a Transtheoretical Model Assessment of Preparedness of Individuals With Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders to Quit Tobacco Use.
Talukdar et al., Cureus 2023
DOI: 10.7759/cureus.48125
Objectives
Listen, we’ve got a situation. People in Northeast India, they don’t know enough about oral cancer and these things called oral potentially malignant disorders, OPMDs. It’s a big deal because they love their tobacco, and it’s part of their culture. But it’s causing an epidemic of oral cancer. We need to figure out what they know about the risks and if they’re ready to kick the habit. That’s what we’re looking at.
Methods
We did this study, a great study, at the Tobacco Cessation Centre in Guwahati, Assam. We’re talking about January to June 2023. We had 200 patients, ages 15 to 65, and we used this model, the transtheoretical model, to see how they’re dealing with behavior change. We checked their mouths, we had questionnaires, and we used the best software to analyze the data. And remember, we’re looking for a p-value less than 0.5 – that’s the key to significance.
Results
Out of 200, we had 64 people with lesions from tobacco. That’s 32%, a big number. And we found a huge correlation between these lesions and where they are in the behavior change model. But here’s the thing, most of these folks, they only know about tobacco and quid chewing as risks for oral cancer. We’re talking 68% and 58% awareness – not enough!
Conclusion
The bottom line is, awareness is too low. People don’t know enough about OPMDs, the risks, the signs, the symptoms. But we did find a significant link between these disorders and where people are in changing their behavior. We’ve got to do better, we’ve got to raise awareness. It’s going to be huge.