Assessment of the oral health seeking behavior of patients with premalignant lesions

• Published in: Journal of family medicine and primary care Vol. 9; no. 1; pp. 141 - 146
• Main Authors: Deolia, Shravani, Khare, Mrunmayee, Arora, Ritika, Chikhale, Rana, Korde, Revti, Reche, Amit
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: India Wolters Kluwer India Pvt. Ltd 01.01.2020; Medknow Publications and Media Pvt. Ltd; Wolters Kluwer - Medknow; Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications
• Subjects: Analysis; health-seeking behavior; Medical research; Oral health; Original; premalignant lesions; primary prevention; quality of life; Radiology; Suffering; Surveys; India; primary prevention; Health-seeking behavior; quality of life; premalignant lesions
• ISSN: 2249-4863; 2278-7135
• DOI: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_636_19

Background: Before choosing/visiting any dental facility for their treatment, patients consider several factors. These factors may be related to the patient or service provider. The health-seeking behavior of a society defines how health services are used. Aims: To assess the health seeking behavior of patients with premalignant lesions. Material and Method: A cross sectional study using questionnaire was done among the patients who consulted in the Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, of age 18 and above suffering from precancerous lesions. The questionnaire included 25 close-ended questions which collected information about the demographic details, oral hygiene habits, oral health issues, deleterious habits. The responses were either on dichotomous scale (yes and no) or on the frequency habits. A total of 218 subjects were included in the study. The data were analyzed using the Chi-square test. The acceptable level of significance was reduced to P < 0.05. Result: Slightly over 50% of study participants visited the dentist for their dental problems. Most of the participants visited dental clinic whenever needed. Maximum positive health seeking behavior is seen in fourth and fifth decade and minimum seen in second and third decade. Conclusion: The oral premalignant lesions have high chances of transformation into malignancies. The progression of these lesions can be prevented by stopping the progression at an early stage and thus instilling positive health seeking behavior serves as an important key to it.