Oral cancer is a serious global problem. Oral cancers sometimes arise on the premise of clinically visible lesions that are not initially cancerous and are therefore called premalignant. This study was conducted to contribute to the determination of the patient profile with oral premalignant lesions and the risk factors of the disease.
METHODS
This prospective cross-sectional study included 180 patients. The research was conducted using a questionnaire
comprised of closed-ended questions directed at the patients. Statistical analysis of the data
was conducted using the IBM SPSS Statistics software. The Pearson chi-square test was employed to
analyze potential differences between groups, while the Mann-Whitney U test was utilized to evaluate
lesion locations, with p<0.05 being significant.
RESULTS
Upon evaluating the areas of premalignant lesions in the case group, the predominant location was
the cheek mucosa at 37.8% (n=68), followed by the tongue and lip mucosa at 12.2% (n=22). Our study
identified a significant correlation between the presence of premalignant lesions and various factors,
including paraphunctional habits, smoking, tobacco use, systemic diseases, amalgam fillings, aspirin
consumption, and educational status (p<0.001 for all except p=0.004 for educational status). No statistically
significant difference was seen between gender and premalignant lesions (p=0.297).
CONCLUSION
The early identification of clinically observable oral premalignant lesions is essential for the prevention
of oral cancer. This study enhances the literature by assessing the risk variables associated with oral
premalignant lesions.