Prevalence of oral lesions among a sample of Bangladeshi medical users aged 40 years and over living in Tower Hamlets, UK.
OBJECTIVE
To collect data on the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions among Bangladeshi medical care users aged 40 years and over and to explore the relationship of oral disease status and tobacco smoking and paan (betel quid) chewing.


METHODS
Multi-centre cross-sectional study.


METHODS
General medical practitioners' waiting areas in Tower Hamlets, UK.


METHODS
185 Bangladeshi adults aged 40 years old and over.


METHODS
An oral mucosal examination, based on WHO criteria and an interview. Information on tobacco smoking and paan chewing behaviour was collected during the interview.


RESULTS
Out of 185 adults there was a response rate of 74%. Oral mucosal lesions were observed in 40% of participants. The most common lesion was found to be leukoplakia with a prevalence of 25%. Significant relationships were found between smoking and the presence of oral pathology and between paan chewing with tobacco and the presence of leukoplakia.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study of older Bangladeshi medical care users there was a high prevalence of oral mucosal lesions. Sensitively tailored health promotion interventions, which aim to reduce tobacco use, should be developed for this population.
Pearson
N
N
Tower Hamlets Healthcare NHS Trust, Community/Salaried Dental Services, Dental Department, St Leonard's Primary Care Centre, Nuttall Street, London E1 5LZ, UK.
Croucher
R
R
Marcenes
W
W
O'Farrell
M
M
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001114:Areca / Q000009:adverse effects; D001459:Bangladesh / Q000208:ethnology; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000453:epidemiology; D016015:Logistic Models; D008131:London / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D010482:Periapical Abscess / Q000453:epidemiology; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013282:Stomatitis, Denture / Q000453:epidemiology