A Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Mass Awareness Program on Knowledge and Attitude Regarding Oral Cancer among Adults in Selected Community, Bangalore

Abstract

Oral cancer may begin in tongue and floor of the mouth. It is the most common cancers seen in both Indian men and women as can be gauged from the records of the National Cancer Registry Programmer. India has one of the highest incidences of oral cancer. In the rural community most of the adults have the habit of using the tobacco either in any of the form including both men and women, it is the responsibility of the adults to know regarding tobacco use and its side effects. Since tobacco use for long time may cause oral cancer the adults have lack of knowledge and different attitudes towards tobacco use and oral cancer. An evaluative approach with one group pre-test post-test design in quasi experimental design was used to evaluate the effectiveness of Mass Awareness Program regarding oral cancer among adults.  The study was conducted in Kumbalagudu, Bengaluru. Purposive sampling technique was used to select 60 samples. The tool used in the data collection was structured knowledge questionnaire and modified Likert’s attitude scale, which compromised 10 demographic items, 20 items on oral cancer, 15 attitude statements. The reliability of the tool was established by Split Half technique, with ‘r=.85’ for knowledge and “r=0.914” for attitude scale. The pre-test was administered to 60 adults followed by the Mass Awareness Program on the same day and after 7 days post-test was conducted to the same samples using the same tool. Data gathered was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in terms of frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, paired‘t’ test, chi-square test and correlation coefficient. Hence the findings revealed that Mass Awareness program was effective in enhancement of knowledge and changing attitude regarding oral cancer among adults.