Abstract:
This study was carried out in two phases. The first phase, a cross -sectional community
based study interviewing 1029 subjects included on over sampling from the estate sector
over 30 years of age, were randomly selected from 14 clusters from two areas of Medical
Officer of Health ( MOH) in the Sabaragamuwa Province, over a one year period from
November 2006. A multistage ,stratified, clustered sampling technique was adopted for this
study. The study protocol included an interviewer administered questionnaire to gather
socio-demographic factors, information to assess the level of public awareness of oral
cancer /OPMD and habits which include betel chewing, smoking, and alcohol consumption.
The study protocol also included a three day food diary, to assess the protective effect of
consumption of fruit and vegetable on OPMD. A visual oral soft tissue examination was
carried out for identification of abnormalities, with reliability analysis. One hundred and two
Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders were detected among these 1029 subjects. This study
discloses high prevalence of OPMD and risk factors such as betel chewing, in this
community. Therefore, there is a necessity to develop preventive strategies for the early
detection and control of oral cancer. This study provides important information needed to
prepare such strategies to combat oral cancer. The betel chewing without tobacco is also
emerged as a highly significant risk factors for occurrence of OPMD and lack of knowledge
on areca nut as a risk factor for OPMD, need to be addressed in future health education
programme aimed at preventing oral cancer. Legislation regarding the import and sale of
areca nut should be introduced to prevent consumption of areca nut by the younger
generation. It is also recommended that further studies are required to investigate the nonsignificant results observed in this study. Furthermore , as observed that knowledge on
OPMD is very poor among the rural and estate communities and the flow of information is
different in each sector. Therefore different health education and promotion strategies are
needed based on relevance
