Ganesh R, John J, Saravanan S
Department of Public Health Dentistry, Saveetha Dental College and Hospital, 162, Poonamalee High Road, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India.
Indian J Cancer. 2013 Jan-Mar;50(1):9-13. doi: 10.4103/0019-509X.112270.
In developing countries, a high proportion of patients with oral cancer are from lower socioeconomic classes. This high proportion is clearly associated with difficulties in accessing the health care system. Hence, the aim of this study is to assess the socio-demographic profile of oral cancer patients at Tamil Nadu, India.
To determine the socio-demographic profile of study subjects.
This study was a cross sectional study done at a cancer hospital in Chennai. The study population were subjects with oral cancer who reported for treatment. A pretested interviewer administered questionnaire was used to assess the socioeconomic status of oral cancer patients. Pareek's scale of classification was used for rural population and Kuppuswamy's classification was used in urban population to assess the socioeconomic status.
A total of 266 oral cancer patients aged 21-60 years and above comprised the study population. Most of the study subjects belonged to the lower socio economic classes. About 48.5% of rural subjects had agriculture as a source of occupation and 28.6% of urban subjects were unskilled labourers. In both rural and urban subjects, majority, 94.9% and 71.9% had family income below Rs 5000. The percentage of illiterates was high in both rural and urban class (i.e.) 55.8% and 21.9% respectively. The difference in the prevalence of oral cancer among different levels of literacy and occupation was found to be significant statistically.
Identifying occupation, income and education specific disparities in tobacco use can provide a useful "signspot" indicating inequalities that need to be addressed by policy makers and broader community through allocation of resources.
在发展中国家，很大一部分口腔癌患者来自社会经济地位较低的阶层。这一高比例显然与获取医疗保健系统的困难有关。因此，本研究的目的是评估印度泰米尔纳德邦口腔癌患者的社会人口学特征。
确定研究对象的社会人口学特征。
本研究是在金奈一家癌症医院进行的横断面研究。研究人群为前来接受治疗的口腔癌患者。使用经过预测试的访谈员管理问卷来评估口腔癌患者的社会经济状况。农村人口采用帕雷克分类量表，城市人口采用库普苏瓦米分类来评估社会经济状况。
共有266名年龄在21岁及以上的口腔癌患者构成了研究人群。大多数研究对象属于社会经济较低阶层。约48.5%的农村对象以农业为职业来源，28.6%的城市对象为非技术工人。在农村和城市对象中，大多数人（分别为94.9%和71.9%）家庭收入低于5000卢比。农村和城市阶层的文盲率都很高（分别为55.8%和21.9%）。不同识字水平和职业的口腔癌患病率差异在统计学上具有显著性。
识别烟草使用在职业、收入和教育方面的特定差异，可以提供一个有用的“信号点”，表明政策制定者和更广泛的社区需要通过资源分配来解决的不平等问题。
