author(s)
Dr. Arul Valan P and Rajeshwari G

abstract
Cancer is group of diseases with similar characteristics. Cancer can occur in all living cells in the body and different cancer types have different natural history. Epidemiological studies have shown that 70-90% of all cancers are environmental. Lifestyle related factors are the most important and preventable among the environmental exposures. Tobacco consumptions either as chewing tobacco or smoking tobacco will account for 50% of all cancers in men. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of structured teaching program regarding oral cancer and oral self-examination. A pre-experimental one group pre-test post-test design was used for this study. The pilot study was conducted and the results were analyzed. The study was found to be feasible and the main study was conducted for a period of one month. Sample sizes of 50 fulfilling the inclusive criteria were selected by means of a convenience sampling technique. The results showed in pre-test 34 (68%) of the samples had inadequate knowledge regarding oral cancer and 30 (60%) of the samples had inadequate knowledge regarding oral self-examination and none of them had adequate knowledge. whereas in post-test majority of the samples 42 (84%) had adequate knowledge regarding oral cancer and 44 samples (88%) had adequate knowledge regarding oral self-examination and none of the samples had inadequate knowledge. The results showed in pre-test 19 (38%) of the samples had moderate attitude regarding oral cancer and 27 samples (54%) had moderate attitude regarding oral self-examination and none of them had favorable attitude regarding oral cancer and oral self-examination. In post-test 37 (74%) of the samples had favorable attitude and 41 samples (82%) had favorable attitude regarding oral self-examination and none of them had unfavorable attitude. There was a significant increase in the level of knowledge regarding oral cancer and oral self-examination after the IEC Package (‘P’ value < 0.001) and similarly there was a significant increase in the level of attitude regarding oral cancer and oral self-examination after the IEC Package (‘P’ value < 0.001).