Rabia Masood, Hadia Malik, Laiba Gul, Zarmeena Imtiaz, Ume Hani Sajjad.
Incidence of Aphthous Ulcers in All Forms of Tobacco Users, Mixed Habits and Non-Users.
J Islamic Int Med Coll Jan ;15(2):116-21.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test the association between recurrent aphthous ulcers and different forms of tobacco habits. Study Design: Hospital based cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: The study population consisted of patients attending the Out Patient Department of Islamic International Dental Hospital Islamabad. A hospital based study is carried out for 2 successive months (July-August) 2018. Materials and Methods: Study was conducted on 500 patients to assess the presence of aphthous ulcers. Questionnaire based data was collected along with the clinical examination. Questionnaire included both quantitative and qualitative variables. Quantitative variables; Age, Frequency of addictive habits, Duration of addiction, Size of ulcer, No. of lesions, Duration of ulcer and Qualitative variables; All types of Addictive habits (smoking and smokeless tobacco), Medical history, Frequency of recurrence of ulcers, Site of ulceration, Type of aphthous ulcers. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software version 23 and chi-squared test was applied. Results: Out of 500 subjects, 33 (6.6%) participants presented with aphthous ulcers. 78 subjects had addictive habits of smoking tobacco. Among them, Cigarette Smokers were 75 (15%), Hookah Smokers were 2 (0.4%) and 1 was a Bidi Smoker (0.2%). 23 subjects had addictive habits of using smokeless tobacco. Among which, Paan Chewers were 7 (1.4%), Gutka Chewers were 3 (0.6%) and 13 were Naswar Chewers (2.6%). Conclusion: Although no significant association has been found between aphthous ulcers and smoking habits but ulcers were found to be lower in patients who are smokers as compared to the non-smokers.

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