People would rather see a physician than a dentist when experiencing a long-standing oral ulceration. A population-based study in Spain

Abstract

Background Primary care physicians have been reported to be the first choice for patients with oral ulcerations. This study investigates the health-seeking behaviour of lay public in Galicia (North-western Spain) if experiencing a long-standing oral ulceration. Material and Methods Cross-sectional population-based survey of randomly selected respondents conducted from March 1, 2015 to 30 June 2016. Results A total of 5,727 pedestrians entered the study (response rate: 53%), mostly in the 45-64 age group (30.2%; n=1,728), 47.7% of them (n=2,729) were males. Most participants (42.1%; n=2,411) reported to visit their dentist once a year and had secondary or compulsory education as their highest educational achievement (28.18%, n=1,614; 28%, n=1,600 respectively). When questioned what they would do if they had a wound/ulceration lasting longer than 3 weeks, most participants answered they would go to see their primary care physician (62.8%; n=3,597) and less than one quarter of the sample (23.8%; n=1,371) would seek consultation with their dentist. Conclusions General Galician population would seek professional consultation about a long-standing oral ulceration, relying mostly on primary care physicians. Those neglecting these lesions are elderly, less-schooled people and unaware of oral cancer. Key words: Oral ulceration, oral cancer, patient attitudes, surveys and questionnaires, Spain

Patients journey to diagnosis and treatment of oral mucosal lesions: A report on three cases

“…18 Interestingly, patients preferred to see a medical doctor instead of a dentist when having a non-healing oral ulcer. 19 Unfortunately, this was a consistent finding in all our patients presented in this report. Despite this, medical practitioners do not include orofacial screening as a routine part of the patient's assessment.…”

Epidemiological, clinical, and prognostic analysis of oral squamous cell carcinoma diagnosed and treated in a single hospital in Galicia (Spain): a retrospective study with 5-year follow-up

“…However, we found that women with OSCC showed a better survival, and despite not being significant in our study, other authors have recognised this difference in prognosis ( 11 , 14 , 16 ). This observations could be related to a lower consumption of tobacco and/or alcohol, as well as the earlier diagnosis of OSCC in women, as suggested in other studies conducted in Galicia ( 17 , 18 ).…”

“…However, we found that women with OSCC showed a better survival, and despite not being significant in our study, other authors have recognised this difference in prognosis (11,14,16). This observations could be related to a lower consumption of tobacco and/or alcohol, as well as the earlier diagnosis of OSCC in women, as suggested in other studies conducted in Galicia (17,18). In Galicia, a large majority of patients with OSCC are regular consumers of tobacco and/or alcohol, which remains the most important known oral carcinogenic binomial, and whose consumption numbers have been similar to those in other studies (6,12).…”

Impact of the Presenting Symptom on Time Intervals and Diagnostic Routes of Patients with Symptomatic Oral Cancer

“…The reasons patients chose a GP or a GDP for consultation when experiencing possible symptoms of oral cancer is not known, although financial reasons or tumour sites may have played a role [46]. A recent community-based study showed that patients with a persistent oral ulceration-the most frequent presenting symptom-preferred consultation with a GP [47]. In addition, the number of consultations before referral has been proposed as a subrogated indicator of the primary care interval [48], especially for "harder to suspect" cancers (multiple myeloma, or pancreatic or stomach carcinomas), which generate more consultations and longer primary care intervals [22,48].…”