Effectiveness of Planned Teaching Programme on the Knowledge and Practices regarding Primary Prevention of Oral Cancer among Students of a Selected College in Mumbai

Introduction: Cancer refers to a general term involving abnormal cell growth in any part of the body with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. After cardiovascular diseases, Cancer is the second leading cause of death globally. Among all types of cancer, Oral cancer is one of the ten most common cancers in the world which will remain a major health problem in India. Early detection of cases and adoption of primary prevention methods may delay many deaths and reduced the considerable costs associated with morbidity and management of oral cancer. Objectives: Objectives of the study are to assess the knowledge and practices regarding primary prevention of oral cancer among college students before and after planned teaching. Also to determine the relationship between knowledge and practices regarding primary prevention of oral cancer among students after planned teaching and to find the association of post test knowledge scores and practice scores regarding primary prevention of oral cancer with selected demographic variables after planned teaching. Design: A single group pretest and post test design was used to study the effectiveness of planned teaching on the knowledge and practices regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. The students included in the study were 60 students studying in first year of Bachelor's degree in commerce, selected by non-probability sampling technique from E. B. Madhavi senior college, Dombivli. Necessary administrative permission obtained from concern authority. Structured questionnaires were used to assess knowledge and inventory checklist was used to assess practices regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. Result: The study revealed that an improvement was seen in all the areas. The total increment in scores and percentage of pre test from 606 (40.4%) to 814 (54.26%) in post test knowledge scores and percentage regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. Also, the total increment in scores and percentage of pre test from 489 (58.21%) to 534 (63.57%) in post test practice scores and percentage regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. An overall increase of 208 (13.86%) was seen in post test knowledge scores and 45 (5.36%) was seen in post test practice scores of the students regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. The calculated t value were 42.83 for knowledge and 71.54 for practice and both values were found statistically significant at 0.05 level. Conclusion: The outcome of the study revealed that the planned teaching significantly improved knowledge and practices of the students regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. This was indicated by increment in the scores of knowledge and practices after planned teaching.