Comparative study on the prevalence of oral lesions biopsied in the elderly and non-elderly population in the Master of oral Medicine, Surgery and Implantology

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of biopsied oral lesions in elderly patients and to compare it with the non-elderly population. Materials and methods: Observational, retrospective and cross-sectional study where a total of 151 biopsies of oral lesions from last year were analyzed. The sample was divided into two age groups: Elderly group (EG) (≥65 years of age) and non-elderly group (NEG) (<65 years), and several clinical parameters were collected. Results: Of the 151 records, 51 were elderly and 100 were non-elderly. The most prevalent lesion in both groups was the fibroma (n=41). Within the GA the most frequent pathologies were: the lichen planus/lichenoid reaction (LPO/RL) (n=9), epithelial hyperplasia (EH) (n=3) and leukoplakia (n=3). In the GNA the lesions with increased incidence were: radicular cyst (n = 20), the periapical granuloma (PG) (n=6) mucocele (n=5) and squamous papilloma (SP) (n=5). Regarding gender distribution in the elderly population, women (n=27) present a higher prevalence of fibroma and PG, and men (n=24) have a higher incidence of LP and fibroma. Conclusions: There are few epidemiological studies of oral lesions in Spain, even less related to the elderly population. These studies are essential to detect patterns and implement preventive measures, especially in the elderly population, often considered as a risk group. Among the literature, we obtain similar results; however, we obtain a higher prevalence of certain rare lesions, such as lipoma and neuroma, and a low prevalence of OSCC.