Oral lesions in elderly patients of a community in Brazilian Northeast.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the oral soft-tissue injuries in people aged 60 or older.


METHODS
Cross-sectional research conducted with 262 elders aged 60-93 years (mean 69.84, SD ± 6.212) from the Dende community in Northeast, Brazil. Data were collected through an identification questionnaire and the Community Indicator in Oral Health. Data were computed by the Software SPSS, version 15.


RESULTS
There was a predominance of female gender (64.1%), retired, low schooling and income of up to one minimum wage. It was detected a prevalence of soft-tissue injuries in 38.4% (n = 101) of the elders, distributed as follows: red spots 60(57.7%), blisters 20(19.2%), lesions and/or wound 16(15.4%), and white spot 8(7.7%). Among the elders, 40(15.3%) smoked and 20(7.6%) used alcohol. It was verified a statistical association between injuries and using prosthesis (p = 0.039), medicine (p = 0.023) and calculus (p = 0.016).


CONCLUSIONS
The oral health of this population is precarious, and there is a high prevalence of oral lesions.
Center of Science and Health, UNIFOR, Fortaleza, Brazil.
Maria V L
MV
Saintrain
Caroline B
CB
Almeida
Tábata M O
TM
Naruse
Vanessa P
VP
Gonçalves
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000453:epidemiology; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003728:Dental Calculus / Q000453:epidemiology; D003729:Dental Care / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017266:Dental Prosthesis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003802:Dentifrices / Q000627:therapeutic use; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000293:injuries*; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations; D015995:Prevalence; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D017695:Soft Tissue Injuries / Q000453:epidemiology; D014099:Toothbrushing / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
D003802:Dentifrices; D004364:Pharmaceutical Preparations