Socio-Demographic Factors Related to Oral Cancer

Problem statement: The aim of this study was to identify factors rela ted to cancer of oral cavity considering individual socio-demographic cha racteristics of a hospital based study in Pune. Approach: A case-control study was conducted. The cases were 350 with squamous-cell carcinoma of oral cavity diagnosed between 2005 and 2006 in Morbai, Narandia, Budharani Cancer Institute, Pune, India. Similar number of controls matched for age a nd sex selected from the background population. Cases and controls were interviewed for general cha racteristics; age, gender, education and possible socio-demographic factors. Results: Chi-square test in uni-variate analysis and estima te for risk showed that education, occupation and monthly household income were significantly different between cases and controls (p<0.001). Irrespective to gende r, relative risk, here Odds Ratio (OR) of low level of education (OR = 5.3, CI 3.7-7.6), working in field as an agriculture (OR = 2.5, CI 1.7-3.7) and monthl y household income less than 5000 Indian Rupees currency (OR = 1.7, CI 1.2-2.3) were significant risk factors for oral cancer. While, there was no signif icant relationship between religious and or marital status either in males or females. Conclusion/Recommendations: Socio-demographic factors such as education, occupation and income do play an important role in development oral cancer.