Relationship between smoking duration and habits (Brinkman index) with Melanin pigmentation score among online motorcycle taxi drivers in Medan

Smoking habits can cause unaesthetic condition in oral mucosa such as pigmentation among smokers which is called smoker’s melanosis. The severity of a smoker’s melanosis can be assessed by Hedin Melanin Index. The purpose of this study was to determine relationship between smoking habits which include the number of cigarettes smoked per day, duration of smoking, type of cigarette, and smoking habits (Brinkman Index) with severity of the melanin pigmentation score in sufferers of smoker’s melanosis in online motorcycle taxi drivers in the North Medan area. This research is an observational analytic with a cross-sectional approach. The subjects were 100 people. Subjects were taken using the stratified random sampling method according to the inclusion criteria of active smokers aged 26-45 years and had smoked ≥1 year, suffered from smoker’s melanosis, did not suffer from systemic diseases, or took drugs for a long time such as Addison’s disease, Peutz-Jegherz, and drugs such as antimalarial drugs and minocycline which can cause pigmentation of the gingiva, and agreed to participate in the study. Smoking habit data were obtained through direct interviews and clinical examinations to measure melanin pigmentation scores using the Hedin Medin Index. The data obtained were analyzed by the Chi-Square test. This study indicate that there is a relationship between smoking duration and the severity of the melanin pigmentation score (p = 0.0001, OR = 3.630)) and there is a relationship between smoking habits (Brinkman Index) and severity of the melanin pigmentation score (p = 0.015, OR = 0.622). The conclusion of this study, there is a significant relationship between smoking duration and smoking habits (Brinkman Index) with severity of the melanin pigmentation score in sufferers of smoker’s melanosis.