title: Factors associated with clinical characteristics and symptoms in a case series of oral lichen planus.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a relatively common chronic inflammatory disease whose etiopathogenesis is not completely understood. Several factors have been proposed in an attempt to explain the variety of clinical manifestations and periods of exacerbation and remission of symptoms of these lesions. The objective of this study was to associate local factors, systemic diseases, and level of anxiety with clinical characteristics of OLP.
  
  
  METHODS
  The following factors were analyzed in 37 patients with OLP: presence of smoking, alcohol consumption, diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and hepatitis C virus infection. Anxiety was measured by the Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. These variables were associated with clinical form and symptoms (chi-squared/Fisher's exact test).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The erosive form was the most prevalent presentation (57.1%). Symptoms were reported by 45.7% of the patients. Most patients were non-smokers (97.3%), and none of them was an alcoholic. Diabetes and hypertension were present in 10.8% and 16.2% of the patients, respectively. Only one patient was hepatitis C virus seropositive, and 78.4% presented moderate levels of anxiety. No significant association was observed between the variables studied and clinical form or symptoms.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In this study, no association was observed between local and systemic factors or level of anxiety and clinical characteristics of OLP.
authors.affiliation: Oral Pathology Postgraduate Program, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, RN, Brazil.
authors.forename: Natália G
authors.initials: NG
authors.lastname: Barbosa
authors.forename: Éricka J D
authors.initials: ÉJ
authors.lastname: Silveira
authors.forename: Emeline N de A
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Patrícia T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.forename: Maria Sueli M
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Soares
authors.forename: Ana Miryam C
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: de Medeiros
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000437:Alcoholism / Q000453:epidemiology; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D005881:Gingiva; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D008046:Lip; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009061:Mouth Mucosa; D010159:Palate; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology; D014059:Tongue