Socio demographic Characteristics Comparison - Malaysian and Indonesian Oral Cancer

Oral carcinoma is the sixth most common cancer in the world with marked variation between countries. The variation in socio demographic characteristics in two different countries with almost similar characteristics may reflect the diversity of the oral cancer profile in Southeast Asian region associated with risk factors. Objective: To compare the socio demographic characteristics of oral cancer patients in two different populations (Malaysian - ndonesian). Methods: Respondents were histologically diagnosed oral cancer patients who seek treatment from selected hospitals all over Malaysia and Indonesia. Respondents were interviewed using a pre-designed questionnaire consist of data on socio-demographic background, risk habits such as smoking, alcohol, quid chewing habits, history of cancer and dietary pattern. Analysis of results was done using the ÷2 test and Fischer Exact test where applicable. Results: This study consist of 55 Malaysian and 27 Indonesian cancer patients with mean age of 55.2 ± 15.12 years old. There is significant difference (p=0.000) in age between the two populations where it was observed that the majority of Indonesian patients are in the 41-60 years old group (51.9%) while the majority of Malaysian patients are in the >60 years group (50.9%). Oral cancer affects more females rather than males in Malaysian (58.2%) population and more on Indonesian males (74.1%) compared to females. 47.3% of Malaysian either are currently chewing quid or has stopped chewing as compared to only 7.1% of Indonesian patients who practiced the habit (p=0.000). Dietary pattern showed no significant difference (p=0.055) where 100% of Indonesian are non vegetarian as compared to 76.4% in Malaysian. There is a significant difference in fast food consumption (p=0.04) where more Indonesian (37%) frequently consumed fast food compared to Malaysian (7.2%) Conclusion: There is a significant difference in age group, gender, quid chewing habit and dietary pattern in the two studied populations.