| Summary: | Background
Tobacco use
continues to be the single most leading cause of preventable deaths globally
causing more than 5 million deaths/ year. The tobacco use status declared by
patients must be objectively validated by biochemical tests. Salivary
thiocyanate has been shown to be a suitable indicator of habitual smoking. However,
data on its levels among tobacco chewers and passive smokers is lacking. The objective
of the present study was to estimate and compare the salivary thiocyanate levels
among smokers, passive smokers, tobacco chewers, non-tobacco users in Mangalore,
Karnataka, India.
Methods
A self-administered, pre-tested questionnaire
was distributed to one hundred hospital outpatients in Mangalore, Karnataka,
India. Based on the responses obtained, the participants were categorized into Smokers
(25), Smokeless tobacco users (25), Passive smokers (25) and Non-Users (25). Saliva
was collected from the subjects in sterile plastic containers and sent for biochemical
analysis to estimate thiocyanate levels. The results obtained were tabulated in
Microsoft Excel for Windows and subjected to statistical analysis using SPSS
statistical package 17.0. Kruskal Wallis test was used to compare the data
among the various groups and the difference was considered as statistically
significant if P< 0.05. Pairwise comparison
between groups was done using the Mann Whitney U test.
Results
The mean salivary thiocyanate levels were 79.46 + 7.80
mMol/L, 50.16 + 13.83 mMol/L, 50.59 + 6.87 and 36.61 + 5.84 among the smokers,
tobacco chewers, passive smokers and non-users respectively which was statistically
significant. Pairwise comparison of the
groups showed that there was significant statistical difference among all pairs
except between the passive smokers and smokeless tobacco users.
Conclusions
Salivary
thiocyanate can be used as a reliable diagnostic marker for differentiation of
tobacco users from non-tobacco users. Salivary thiocyanate levels may also be a
valuable indicator in tobacco cessation clinics for assessing the prognosis of
tobacco abusers in their attempt to quit the habit.
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