Urban and rural disparity in tobacco use and knowledge about oral cancer among adolescents: An epidemiological survey on 12 and 15-year school going students.

Aims And Objectives: To assess and compare the tobacco use prevalence; to understand and compare attitudes and knowledge related to tobacco use and its health impact among urban and rural students; and to assess urban and rural disparity in the use of tobacco among 12 and 15-year-old adolescents in the urban and rural schools in Chhattisgarh, India.

Materials And Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 12 and 15-year-old and urban and rural school going children in Durg District. Scientifically, based on the data obtained from the pilot study, sample size was calculated. A total of 1000 children were selected to be a part of the study and were interviewed face-to-face using a detailed pretested, close-ended questionnaire. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0 (SPSS Pvt. Ltd, Chicago, IL, USA) was used for the statistical analyses.

Results: Prevalence of tobacco consumption was 48.8%. Males were involved predominantly in consuming tobacco. The knowledge and attitude was better in the school children of urban areas than the school children of rural areas; more of the urban school children were involved in smoking cigarette. Rural children outnumbered urban children in the smokeless tobacco consumption.

Conclusion: Prevalence of tobacco consumption among school children remains high with a wide disparity among urban and rural children. There is an urgent need to have a rural orientation in the National Tobacco Control Program that is currently being developed by the Government of India and giving relevance to the youth.