Cognizance and social attitudes regarding tobacco control laws in and around educational institutions of Nellore city, India

INTRODUCTION: Indian national law namely Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) exists since 2003 and aims at protecting all the people in our country, but smoking is still prevalent among people. This study was aimed to assess awareness, attitudes, and practices regarding prohibition of sale of tobacco products near educational institutions of Nellore city, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted in degree colleges of Nellore city of Andhra Pradesh. The study population includes institutional personnel (student, teaching staff, nonteaching staff, and workers) of selected degree colleges of Nellore city. A structured questionnaire was designed for this study which was validated by Davis criteria; reliability was assessed by test–retest design. The questionnaire was divided into five parts consisting of demographic details (age and gender), smoking behavior, knowledge about tobacco control laws, attitudes toward the law and policies, and practices followed in the institution. Logistic regression analysis was used to find out the association between different independent variables to tobacco usage among institutional personnel. RESULTS: Among the study population (n = 400 [100%]), 75.8% of the teaching staff do not know that there should be a board in the institution saying that “sale of tobacco product in an area within the radius of 100 m of educational institution is strictly prohibited,” 82.2% of the study population were not aware to whom should they report, 96.3% of the study population accepted that strict execution of COTPA law saves life, the participants who answered no to strict implementation of COTPA law, and to punish the person who is violating the COTPA law are susceptible to 0.28, and 0.14 times greater odds to be a smokeless tobacco user, respectively. CONCLUSION: The study concluded that there was lack of knowledge about smoke-free legislation among the study population and a high support for strict implementation of COTPA

An epidemiological data of oral health status and treatment needs of rural population of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India

Introduction: As India is the second highest populated country and approximately 72% of this population live in rural areas, an attempt has been made to assess the prevalence of oral diseases in rural areas. Aim: To assess the prevalence of oral diseases in 5, 12, 35–44, and 65–74 years old population in rural areas of Nellore district, Andhra Pradesh, India. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out using multistage cluster sampling methodology, and random samples of participants were selected. Data were collected on sociodemographic details, oral hygiene practices, and clinical oral health data collected according to the World Health Organization methodology criteria and simplified oral hygiene index. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and linear and logistic regression. Results: Among 35–44 and 65–74 years age group, 54.1% and 42.2% of the population showed poor oral hygiene status. At age 12 years, 51% of children had caries; mean decayed, missing, filled teeth was 3.24 in 35–44 years and 12.01 in 65–74 years. Extraction was the most required treatment (52.1%) for older people, pulp care therapy for 12 years old (16.5%) and 35–44 years old (23.2%). Community periodontal index score 2 was dominant in 12 years old (30.5%) and 35–44 years old (54.6%) and score 3 in 65–74 years (46.9%) population. Definite malocclusion was seen in 18% of 12 years old population. All the independent variables were related to caries and periodontal status (P < 0.05). Conclusion: The study population was characterized by high prevalence of dental caries, periodontal diseases, and poor oral hygiene status, and age of the population is the most associated factor for dental caries and periodontal diseases