Introduction:

health prevention-promotion activities in relation to oral cancer in Primary Healthcare are aimed at guiding oral self-examination and modifying the habits and conditioning factors that cause this disease.

Objective:

to increase the level of knowledge of patients aged 60 years and older on oral cancer with health prevention-promotion activities.

Methods:

a descriptive, longitudinal and prospective study of educational intervention was carried out in Santa Inés, Lara State, Venezuela between the months of June 2018 to November 2019, in a population of 821 patients aged 60 years and older, in a sample of 230 patients according to inclusion and exclusion criteria, applying an educational intervention on oral cancer with health prevention-promotion activities.

Results:

the predominant age group was 60 to 70 years (42,2 %), and female sex (42,9 %). Alcohol consumption (63 %), smoking (60,9 %) and the use of ill-fitting dentures (43,5 %) were identified as risk factors for oral cancer. At the beginning of the study, 34,8 % had an adequate level of knowledge and after the application of the educational intervention; it increased to 67,4 % of the sample.

Conclusions:

women between 60 and 70 years old represented the majority of the patients and the consumption of alcoholic beverages, smoking and the use of ill-fitting prostheses were the most influential risk factors in this population. The educational intervention applied modified more than half of those with insufficient levels of knowledge to a satisfactory level of knowledge.

        · resumo em Espanhol     · texto em Espanhol     · Espanhol ( pdf )