Diagnoses of 964 oral biopsies from people aged over 50 years in Karnataka State, India.

Introduction: The drastic epidemiological transition has created a huge void in evidence with regard to the health statistics of elderly population. Data are sparse on the oral mucosal conditions prevalent among the elderly Indian population. This study aimed to review the oral biopsies reported in the institute over the last 21 years and to examine the trends in geriatric oral pathologies.

Methodology: A total of 964 histologically confirmed geriatric (age ranging 50-97 years) oral lesions among 4000 cases reported were retrieved from the files of Department of Oral Pathology and Microbiology of KLE VK institute, Belgaum, Karnataka commencing since 1992 till 2012. These cases were retrospectively evaluated for various parameters such as age, gender, duration, location and type of lesions.

Results: The geriatric oral lesions were seen to occur predominantly in men (65%), especially the sixth decade of life (47%). The most common location was the buccal mucosa (29%). The malignant neoplastic lesions accounted for the majority of the geriatric lesions (36%) followed by non-neoplastic lesions (27%), potentially malignant disorders (26%) and benign neoplasms, which formed a minor proportion of (11%). The oral squamous cell carcinoma was the single most common geriatric lesion accounted. Gender and age-wise correlation analyses among the various lesion categories showed statistical significance.

Conclusion: The study provides valuable information about major oral pathologies in our scenario that contribute to significant morbidity and mortality among the geriatric population. It also sheds light about the diseases that need to be targeted in future Indian public health policies and initiatives for geriatric care.