Cancrum oris (noma): Level of education and occupation of parents of affected children in Nigeria.

A total of 173 cancrum oris patients who were brought by their parents to the University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, were analyzed. Ninety-one (52.6%) were males and 82 (47.4%) females. Their ages ranged from 1.5 to 11 years with a mean of 4.36 (standard deviation 2.13) years. One hundred and twenty-one (69.9%) and 52 (30.1%) were from monogamous and polygamous family respectively. The average number of children per family was 7.0. The number of parents with no formal education was 148 (85.5%) and 98.3% were low-income earners. The relationships between occupation, income and educational status were highly significant. This study suggests that apart from poverty, large family units and low educational status of parents are contributing factors in the aetiology of cancrum oris.