Patterns of Tobacco Usage and Oral Mucosal Lesions of Industrial Workers: A Cross Sectional Study

Tobacco use is associated with a variety of oral precancerous lesions and cancer. The lesions caused by smokeless tobacco can be reversed by quitting the habit at an earlier stage and providing appropriate treatment. Thus, proving the importance of early diagnosis in prevention of debilitating diseases caused by tobacco use. This study was conducted to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions and tobacco consumption patterns among industrial workers of an Indian city. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted with 1500 industrial workers and ethical approval was obtained and informed consent was obtained from the subjects. Tobacco related habits and oral mucosal lesions were recorded using WHO pro forma for recording Oral Mucosal diseases. Tobacco usage was prevalent among 70.8% and prevalence of oral mucosal lesions was 30.8%. The odds ratio (OR) for smoking, gutkha chewing, ST (Smokeless Tobacco) and alcohol consumption was 1.08, 1.7, 5.2 and 1.6 respectively. After adjusting for confounding factors, the adjusted OR for smokeless tobacco usage (i.e. ST and gutkha) was 12.1.Smokeless tobacco usage was found to be the strongest risk factor for precancerous and cancerous lesions of oral cavity. It is recommended to conduct regular screening and health education program for the industrial workers.