Tobacco (kretek) smoking, betel quid chewing and risk of oral cancer in a selected Jakarta population.
OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to determine the association between tobacco consumption (kretek) and betel quid chewing with oral cancer risk.


METHODS
A total of 81 cases of oral cancers were matched with 162 controls in this hospital-based study. Information on sociodemographic characteristics and details of risk habits (duration, frequency and type of tobacco consumption and betel quid chewing) were collected. Association between smoking and betel quid chewing with oral cancer were analysed using conditional logistic regression.


RESULTS
Slightly more than half of the cases (55.6%) were smokers where 88.9% of them smoked kretek. After adjusting for confounders, smokers have two fold increased risk, while the risk for kretek consumers and those smoking for more than 10 years was increased to almost three-fold. Prevalence of betel quid chewing among cases and controls was low (7.4% and 1.9% respectively). Chewing of at least one quid per day, and quid combination of betel leaf, areca nut, lime and tobacco conferred a 5-6 fold increased risk.


CONCLUSIONS
Smoking is positively associated with oral cancer risk. A similar direct association was also seen among betel quid chewers.
Oral Medicine Department, Trisakti University, Jakarta, Indonesia E-mail : rahmi.amtha@gmail.com.
Rahmi
R
Amtha
Ishak Abduk
IA
Razak
Bastaman
B
Basuki
Boedi Oetomo
BO
Roeslan
Walta
W
Gautama
Denny Joko
DJ
Puwanto
Wan Maria Nabillah
WM
Ghani
Rosnah Binti
RB
Zain
D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000368:Aged; D001114:Areca / Q000009:adverse effects; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012016:Reference Values; D018570:Risk Assessment; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects*; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless / Q000009:adverse effects*; D055815:Young Adult