Prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among fishermen of Kutch coast, Gujarat, India.

BACKGROUND The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among fishermen population in the coastal region of Kutch, Gujarat, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS A descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted to assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among the 979 fishermen of Kutch District, Gujarat, India. The proforma included information on demographic details, habits (tobacco and alcohol), oral hygiene practices and presence and location of oral mucosal lesions according to World Health Organisation, 2013. Chi-square test was used for comparisons. Confidence level and p-value were set at 95% and 5%, respectively. RESULTS The majority of study population consumed tobacco and alcohol (88.1%) in some or the other form and used chewsticks (42.9%) for cleaning their teeth. Amongst all, 30.03% of the study subjects suffered from oral mucosal lesions. Leukoplakia (13.8%) was found to be the most prevalent lesion. The most affected sites were lips and vermillion border. The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions was found to be significantly associated with age, gender, oral hygiene practices and adverse habits. CONCLUSIONS Oral mucosal lesions were prevalent among 30.03% of the study population. More detailed studies probing this issue should be conducted and efforts should be directed towards primordial prevention of the conditions.