Abstract

Objective: To investigate the frequency and type of tobacco in oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (OSCC) patients and its association with age and gender.
Methodology: This questionnaire based descriptive study was conducted at Almustafa Medical Center, Karachi from Jan 2023 till June 2023.
Results: Out of 138 patients, 80.4% were male with an average age of 46.18±11.97 years. Significant age-related associations were observed, particularly among the 20-30 and 31-40 age groups. Significant gender associations were noted for pan, gutka, and smoking, indicating strong male predominance.
Conclusion: Onset of OSCC is high in young patients signifying a noteworthy change in age distribution towards a younger demographic. Also, consumption of specific tobacco like pan, gutka, and smoking was strongly associated with male gender, highlighting the essentiality of targeted interventions to curb the escalating OSCC risk associated with chewable tobacco.

Key words: Oral Squamous cell carcinoma, chewing tobacco, oral mucosa, smoking.