A Study to Assess the Effectiveness of Structured Teaching Program on Knowledge Regarding Primary Prevention of Oral Cancer among Adolescents, In Selected P.U Colleges, Bangalore

Abstract Introduction: Oral cancer is the most common cancer in India due to the high prevalence of tobacco chewing. Lifestyle changes can cause major health problems, due to lack of timely access to treatment, preventive measures, and health education, oral cancer remains one of the most common cancers. The present study was conducted to assess the knowledge regarding primary prevention of oral cancer and to find the effectiveness of structured teaching programs (STP) among adolescents. Materials and methods: A pre-experimental one-group pre-test post-test design was selected. A total of 90 samples were selected through a simple random sampling technique. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess the effectiveness of an STP on knowledge regarding primary prevention of oral cancer. Results: The study findings showed that 75.6% of subjects had inadequate knowledge, and 24.4%subjects had moderately adequate knowledge before STP. Among the subjects, 65.6% had sufficient knowledge, and 34.4% had moderately adequate knowledge after STP. The mean score before STP was 9.97±2.533 and after STP was 17.97±1.814. The obtained ‘t’ value is -22.82, and the calculated p-value is 0.00 statistically significant at p< 0.05. A significant association exists between pre-test knowledge score and selected socio-demographic variables such as age, gender, and class. There is no significant association between knowledge score and other socio-demographic variables. Conclusion: STP creates a highly visual learning environment that promotes understanding of concepts, activities, and expectations, effectively improving adolescent knowledge.