Otorhinolaryngological symptoms among smokeless tobacco (Maras powder) users

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to investigate the relationship between smokeless tobacco (maras powder) consumption andotorhinolaryngological symptoms.METHODS: This descriptive study was carried out on 599 participants. The participants were divided into two groups. Ofthese, 299 (49.9%) patients aged over 18 years were the first group; they used smokeless tobacco for at least 5 years. Theremaining patients comprised the second group, which included 300 (50.1%) healthy volunteers who did not use tobaccoor its products and demonstrated some similarities with the first group. For the purpose of data collection, a questionnaireconsisting of 45 questions was administered to the participants.RESULTS: Cough, sputum, shortness of breath, dysphagia, snoring, and apnea-hypopnea were found to be significantlyincreased in smokeless tobacco users. The highest odds ratio (OR) found was for sputum at 2.615. Similarly, other oral cavitysymptoms such as mouth tickling, dryness of throat, mouth sores, halitosis, taste disorders, and toothache were found tobe significantly increased in smokeless tobacco users. It is noteworthy that halitosis was 9.4 times more prevalent amongsmokeless tobacco users than in the non-tobacco users. Sinonasal symptoms such as sneezing, headache, facial fullness, andanorexia were found to be significantly increased in smokeless tobacco users. However, there were no differences betweenthe groups in terms of ear symptoms.CONCLUSION: This study demonstrated that the negative effects of smokeless tobacco consumption were particularlyhigher in the oral cavity, which in turn gave rise to a number of serious upper respiratory tract complaints.