Prevalence of oral soft tissue lesions in an elderly venezuelan population.

AIM The purpose of the present study was to determine the prevalence of the oral soft tissue lesions in patients referred to the geriatric unit "Dr. Joaquin Quintero", National Institute of Gerontology. STUDY DESIGN 340 patients were clinically evaluated, of these 266 were institutionalized and 74 were seen at the outpatient clinic, age ranging 60 to 104 years. 212 were females and 128 males. The statistical analysis was done using the SPSS software (11.0) to a significant level of 5% (p<0.05). RESULTS Fifty seven percent of the studied population presented one or more oral lesions, associated to prosthetic use, trauma and tobacco consumption. Females were more affected than males. The lesions were more frequently observed between 60 to 74 years of the institutionalized group of patients of these, 34% exhibited only one oral lesion. Few cases presented up to 4 oral lesions. The most common alterations observed were: denture stomatitis, oral leukoplakia, hemangioma, oral melanotic macule, traumatic fibroma, inflammatory fibrous hyperplasia and angular cheilitis. CONCLUSIONS The findings observed in this population are important to be considered when clinically evaluating oral soft tissue in elderly. Close follow up and systematic evaluation is required in this population.