Non-specific Chief Complaints Among Oral Submucous Fibrosis Patients at Outpatient Department and Pan Shop at Rural Region in India

AIM: The first communication with a healthcare professional is critical for determining the correct diagnosis, particularly when it comes to patients’ description of symptoms. This study aimed at exploring the primary symptoms observed in oral submucous fibrosis patients with non-specific complaints visiting outpatient department and pan shop at Kanpur, India. MATERIALS AND METHODS: It was a cross-sectional study involving a two-stage sampling to select clinically diagnosed oral submucous fibrosis (OSF) patients from the outpatient department and pan shop customers (PSCs) at rural healthcare centers. A total of 321 participants were selected based on convenience sampling. Patient demographics, history of relevant habits with a period, and socioeconomic status were all documented. The extent of mouth opening was used to grade OSF cases. Data were analyzed using MedCalc Version 19.7.2 with χ(2), Wilcoxon signed-rank, and t-tests used, as appropriate, to calculate P-values. RESULTS: Out of the 184 OSF-OPD patients, only 59 (32.06%) described relevant disease symptoms of OSF: in stage III, 28.5% or stage IV, 38.7%. One hundred and twenty-five patients (67.93%) reported chief complaints (CCs) unrelated to OSF, and all of these cases were diagnosed with an early stage of OSF (stage I: 72.41% and stage II: 61.53%). Out of the total 137 PSCs, 74 PSCs have had prior dental consultations, but only 44 (32.11%) people had sought medical help because of OSF-related CCs. CONCLUSION: A limited number of studies were conducted in this area, particularly in the rural population of central India. Our study found that considerable amount of main complaints from OSF patients was unrelated to their symptoms. There is insufficient knowledge of OSF symptoms among rural population, which further restricts early detection of the disease.