Myint Su Kyaw, Narksawat Kulaya, Sillabutra Jutatip
Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health. 2016 Sep;47(5):1089-97.
Betel nut chewing can cause precancerous oral lesions and is common in Myanmar. We conducted a cross sectional study aimed to estimate prevalence and factors influencing betel nut chewing among 420 subjects aged ≥18 years in West Insein Township, Yangon, Myanmar in order to inform preventive health programs. The mean age of the study subjects was 45(±15) years. The overall prevalence of current betel nut chewing among study subjects was 55.2%. The mean age starting betel nut chewing was 29(±13) years, and the mean duration of chewing was 15(±13) years. The reasons given by study subjects for chewing betel nut included the addictive effect to betel nut, to release tension, to get rid of boredom and to stop smoking. Sixty-two point three percent of current betel nut chewers also chewed tobacco and 24.2% also smoked cigarettes. Factors significantly associated with betel nut chewing were male gender, current alcohol consumer, having no education or finishing primary or secondary school, having a low score regarding their attitude about the health effects of betel nut chewing, and having high score on interpersonal factors by family and peer pressure. Our results show a need to better educate the public about the health effects of betel nut chewing among the study population.
嚼槟榔会导致口腔癌前病变，在缅甸很常见。我们进行了一项横断面研究，旨在估计缅甸仰光西部因盛镇420名18岁及以上受试者中嚼槟榔的患病率及影响因素，以便为预防性健康计划提供信息。研究对象的平均年龄为45（±15）岁。研究对象中当前嚼槟榔的总体患病率为55.2%。开始嚼槟榔的平均年龄为29（±13）岁，平均咀嚼时间为15（±13）年。研究对象给出的嚼槟榔原因包括对槟榔上瘾、缓解紧张、打发无聊和戒烟。62.3%的当前嚼槟榔者也嚼烟草，24.2%的人也吸烟。与嚼槟榔显著相关的因素包括男性、当前饮酒者、未受过教育或只完成小学或初中学业、对嚼槟榔的健康影响态度得分较低，以及在家庭和同伴压力等人际因素方面得分较高。我们的结果表明，有必要在研究人群中更好地教育公众了解嚼槟榔对健康的影响。
