Introduction:

oral cancer is a health problem not because of its incidence but because of its mortality and is considered the sixth most common cause of death among all cancers in the world.

Objective:

to determine the risk of suffering oral cancer in older adults of the Medical Office No. 3 of the Sancti Spíritus Center area.

Methods:

a cross-sectional descriptive observational study was carried out in patients over 60 years of age belonging to the aforementioned clinic in the period from September 2019 to February 2020. The universe consisted of 195 older adults of the clinic and the sample consisted of 103 patients. The variables studied were: age, sex, risk factors and risk of oral and lip cancer.

Results:

the male sex (65,3 %) and the age group 65 to 69 years (34,7 %) were the predominant ones. Poor oral hygiene was the most common factor (57,9 %) followed by smoking (21,2 %). 14,7 % of older adults had a high risk of developing oral cancer, while 11,6 % had a high risk of developing lip cancer.

Conclusions:

there was a predominance of the male sex and the 65-69 years age group. Among the risk factors present in the population, poor oral hygiene was the most prevalent and there was a higher risk of developing oral cancer.

        · abstract in Spanish     · text in Spanish     · Spanish ( pdf )