Self-Perception of Halitosis among Undergraduate Students of Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences - A Questionnaire Based Study.

Background Halitosis is a frequently reported oral health problem worldwide with a prevalence rate of 10-30% in the general population. It is defined as the disagreeable or foul smelling breath originating consistently from a person's oral cavity. It not only effects the normal daily life activities of the patient but also bring humiliation, reduced self- esteem, ultimately resulting into decreased quality of life. Objective To determine the self-perception of halitosis among undergraduate students of different medical branches of Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS); Kavre, Nepal. Method A descriptive cross-sectional epidemiological survey was conducted among undergraduate students of Physiotherapy, B.Sc Nursing, Bachelor of Nursing Sciences (BNS), MBBS and BDS program of Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences, Dhulikhel. A self-administered questionnaire was developed and were distributed among 500 undergraduate students. Result Out of total 500 distributed questionnaires, 406 were completely filled and returned giving an overall response of 81.2%, in which 70 (89.7%) male and 280 (85.4%) female students from different medical branches were aware of the term halitosis. Among them 29 (7.14%) of students think that they suffer from halitosis. Similarly 178 (43.84%) students had severe impact of halitosis on their social life while 153 (37.68%) and 62 (15.27%) students had moderate and mild impact respectively. Conclusion Due to the multifactorial complexity of halitosis, further longitudinal studies including objective assessment of malodor are required to determine its prevalence and to further investigate the association of this problem with other etiological factors in the context of Nepal. Also, curriculum of different fields should be modified to include this simple but very necessary topic.