title: A national epidemiological survey of oral mucosal lesions in Malaysia.
abstract: The prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in Malaysia was determined by examining a representative sample of 11,707 subjects aged 25 years and above throughout the 14 states over a period of 5 months during 1993/1994. A two-stage stratified random sampling was undertaken. A predetermined number of enumeration blocks, the smallest population unit in the census publication, was selected from each state. With the selected enumeration block, a systematic sample of living quarters was chosen with a random start. The survey instrument included a questionnaire on sociodemographic characteristics and a clinical examination. The clinical examination was carried out by 16 specially trained dental public health officers and the diagnosis calibrated with a final concordance rate of 92%. The age in the sample ranged from 25 to 115 years with a mean of 44.5+/-14.0. The sample comprised 40.2% males and 59.8% females; 55.8% were Malays, 29.4% Chinese, 10.0% Indians and 1.2% other ethnic groups. Oral mucosal lesions were detected in 1131 (9.7%) subjects, 5 (0.04%) had oral cancer, 165 (1.4%) had lesions or conditions that may be precancerous (leukoplakia, erythroplakia, submucous fibrosis and lichen planus) and 187 (1.6%) had betel chewer's mucosa. The prevalence of oral precancer was highest amongst Indians (4.0%) and other Bumiputras (the indigenous people of Sabah and Sarawak) (2.5%) while the lowest prevalence was amongst the Chinese (0.5%).
authors.affiliation: Dental Faculty, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: R B
authors.initials: RB
authors.lastname: Zain
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ikeda
authors.forename: I A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Razak
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Axéll
authors.forename: Z A
authors.initials: ZA
authors.lastname: Majid
authors.forename: P C
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yaacob
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001114:Areca; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D003710:Demography; D004919:Erythroplasia / Q000453:epidemiology; D005006:Ethnicity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000208:ethnology; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000453:epidemiology; D008296:Malaysia / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology; D009914:Oral Submucous Fibrosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires