Prevalência das lesões de mucosa bucal e seu impacto na qualidade de vida relacionada à saúde bucal em crianças de cinco anos de idade

Abstract

Oral mucosal lesions are conditions that occur in soft tissues of the mouth, and are expressed by several clinical aspects. The literature has reported the need of considering the functional and psychosocial dimensions in regard to the oral health for the evaluation of dental interventions, such as the oral health related quality of life impact. In this context, the oral mucosal lesions can influence people's daily life due to pain and discomfort that they can cause. The aim of this study was to access the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions and their impact on Oral Health Related Quality of Life (OHRQoL) in children aged 5, from a birth cohort of Pelotas, Brazil. In 2009, a sample of 1,303 children born in Pelotas (2004 Cohort) was selected to participate in the study. Data were collected using a questionnaire applied to mothers and with clinical examinations of the children in their household. Oral mucosal lesions (OML) were identified by type, site and size. Early Childhood Oral Health Impact Scale (ECOHIS), consists of 13 questions, was used to assess caregivers perception on children OHRQoL. Descriptive analysis was performed in order to get the absolute and relative frequencies of the variables related to oral mucosal lesions. Bivariate analysis was performed to assess the association between the presence of OML and prevalence, extent and intensity of the ECOHIS items. Poisson regression models were used to investigate the association between lesions of the oral mucosa and ECOHIS score adjusting for confounders. The prevalence of the oral mucosal lesions was 30.1% (95% CI 27.5-32.9). The site more affected was the gum (31.0%) followed by the tongue (23.9%). Ulcers (29.4%) and papule/nodule (21.9%) were the more prevalent types of lesion. The majority of OML (76.8%) had size up to 5mm. A positive association was found between the presence of OML and impact on oral heath related quality of life measured in overall ECOHIS score (p <0.001), extent (p <0.001), prevalence (p = 0.002) and intensity (p = 0.010). Through the Poisson regression was observed that, even after adjustments, children with OML showed greater oral heath related quality of life (RR 95% CI 1:38 1:11; 1.72) than children without OML. Therefore, the main conclusions of this study are: there is a high prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in children 5 years old and these lesions impaired children oral health related quality of life