Oral mucosal lesions in adult Chinese

The objectives of this analysis were to determine the prevalence of oral mu cosal lesions (OML) among adults in Southern China and to determine possibl e associations between OML and reported tobacco-smoking and alcohol-drinkin g habits. The sample consisted of 1573 35- to 44-year-old and 1515 65- to 7 4-year-old Chinese from both urban and rural areas of Guangdong Province. T he subjects were interviewed by trained interviewers and underwent a clinic al examination of the oral mucosa performed according to WHO guidelines. A specially prepared color atlas of OML was used for lesion recognition and c onfirmation during the survey. Among the 35- to 44-year-old subjects, the o verall prevalence of OML was found to be 13% in urban men, 6% in urban wome n, 15% in rural men, and 4% in rural women. The corresponding figures for t he 65- to 74-year-olds were 22%, 12%, 26%, and 19%. Tongue lesions and whit e lesions were relatively common, but denture-related lesions were not. No malignancies or erythroplakia was observed. Age and gender were found to re late to the occurrence of OML. In elderly men, smoking was significantly (p <0.05) associated with some white lesions and tongue lesions, and alcohol d rinking was also associated with some white lesions. In conclusion, tongue lesions and white lesions were relatively common in men, but pre-cancerous lesions were not prevalent.