Prevalence and investigation of the socio-demographic and behavioral variables of patients with actinic cheilitis treated at a Stomatology Service in the southern region of Brazil

Juliana Tomaz Sganzerla, Bruna Abrunhoza dos Santos Menezes, Mariana Sudati Rodrigues, Mabiéli Rabelo Coelho, Humberto Thomazi Gassen, Sergio Augusto Quevedo Miguens-Jr.

Abstract

Actinic cheilitis is a cancerous lesion which is inflammatory in nature and affects the lips, especially the lower lip. The lesion is caused by prolonged and excessive exposure to sunlight, occurring mostly in white male subjects who engage in activities exposed to the sun. This study aims at estimating the prevalence of actinic cheilitis among the patients of the stomatology clinic of the Lutheran University of Brazil, campus of Canoas, as well as describing its demographic features and assessinthe behavioral aspects considered as risk factors for the development of oral cancer. The sample consisted of 78 medical records of patients treated between 2006 and 2018. After the demographic and behavioral variables were collected, they were assessed by absolute and relative descriptive statistics. The average age of the patients was 47.9 years, the majority being male (53.8%) and white (64%). The analysis of the behavioral variables showed that 34,5% (N=27) of the patients were smokers or former smokers, and 35.9% (N=28) did not use any lip protection. The high prevalence of actinic cheilitis and the absence of protection to sunlight indicate the need for educational and preventive measures to warn the population about risk factors for the development of lip cancer.