*Corresponding Author: Tejaswi Kala, Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health Dentistry, Tirumala Institute of Dental Sciences, Nizamabad, India.

Received: May 08, 2023; Published: May 31, 2023

Abstract

Introduction: Oral cancer is one among few human cancers with a vast potential for prevention. In developing countries, the lack of wide population coverage by specialist health personnel prompted the employment of various health auxiliaries to reach unreached. Acredited social health activist workers are one of such auxiliaries employed by the Indian government to cater diverse health needs of the rural population.

Aim and Objectives: To assess knowledge and practices of ASHA workers in the Vikarabad district regarding oral cancer.

Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on ASHA workers of 5 primary health centres of Vikarabad district. A 19 item structured self-administered questionnaire was used to collect data of which 9 questions were about their practices and 10 questions regarding knowledge. Collected data were subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS version 22.0

Results: 171 ASHA workers participated in the study. Their mean age was 33 years with a mean knowledge score of 25.1±2.2. Around 25.7% of them have come across patients with oral cancer. 52% said they do not have sufficient awareness regarding oral cancer and 97% of them were willing to learn more about oral cancer of which 53.8% opted lecture as the preferred mode of education.

Conclusion: The knowledge of participants in the present study was good. But still, they felt that they were lacking sufficient knowledge to detect oral cancer. So there is a need for conducting awareness programmes aimed at decreasing the prevalence of oral cancer among the rural population by training ASHA workers.

Keywords: Accredited Social Health Activist; Health Education; Oral Cancer; Knowledge; Attitude; Practice

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Citation

Citation: Tejaswi Kala.,et al. “Knowledge and Practices on Oral Cancer Among ASHA Workers of Vikarabad District, Telangana - A Cross Sectional Study".Acta Scientific Dental Sciences 7.6 (2023): 83-89.

Copyright

Copyright: © 2023 Tejaswi Kala.,et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.