Epidemiological and Socio-Demographic Profile of Oral Cancer Patients of Chhattisgarh:A Retrospective Study

India has one of the highest incidences of oral cancer. OC ranks number one among men and number three among women in India (Hamada et al, 1991). The use of tobacco and alcohol are established etiological factor in the development of OC. Tobacco is generally consumed in smoking and smokeless forms.

The present paper aims to study the epidemiological and socio-demographic profile of OC patients reported in Indira Gandhi Regional Cancer Center (IGRCC), JNM Medical College Hospital, Raipur (Chhattisgarh) during 2008-2010.

The data related to socio-demographic profile have been collected from IGRCC, Raipur (C.G.) on 142 clinically diagnosed oral cancer patients with individual informed written consent.

The analysis revealed that more non-tribal individual (60.56%) with OC reported in the hospital than the tribals (39.44 %). Tribal patients (51.79%) reported at hospital in very advanced stage: TNM stage III for their treatment whereas non-tribal patients (31.40%) reported earlier at TNM stage II for their treatment. Alveolus was the common site of OC followed by buccal mucosa in both groups. Consumption of tobacco was higher among the tribal than the non-tribal patients as reflected by PY (Pack Year) and CY (Chewing Year) values, which have been found higher (heavy smoker-62.72%&heavy chewer-65.38%) in tribal patients. More tribal patients (25%) belong to lower socio-economic group than the non-tribal (20.93%).

The findings reveal that community and cultural based health education intervention should be imparted to prevent them from the hazards of tobacco and alcohol.