Background: Khat chewing is a routine practice in Yemen. Associations between Khat chewing and various adverse oral-dental health conditions have been recorded, however, adverse skin health evidence is still lacking.
Objective: To investigate the difference between oral and skin symptoms and signs while chewing Khat and after quitting chewing among Yemeni khat abusers.
Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 300 Yemeni Khat ex-chewer participants in china. Khat chewing status data, a range of oral and skin symptoms and signs, and other pertinent variables were collected using self-administered questionnaires by WeChat. The mean differences between oral and skin symptoms and signs while chewing Khat and after quitting chewing were investigated using the Paired Samples t-test.
Result: Of the 300 Yemeni who participated in the study, 255(85%) were men and 45(15%) were women. The oral symptoms and signs mean while chewing was 0.26, 0.022 (standard deviation [SD], whereas that after quitting chewing Khat was 0.10 (mean), 0.269 (standard deviation [SD], t (12.00), P=0.00. The skin symptoms and signs mean while chewing was 0.13, 0.28 (standard deviation [SD], whereas that after quitting chewing Khat was M=0.06, 0.21(standard deviation [SD], t (9.407), P=0.00.
Conclusions: There is a statistically significant difference between the mean oral and skin symptoms and signs while chewing and after quitting, whereas long-term Khat chewing negatively affects oral and skin health.