Prevalence of Oral Ulcers among a Sample of Patients in Aden City, Yemen

Abstract

Background: Oral ulcers are generally painful lesions that related to various conditions developing within the oral cavity. The main aim of this study is determining the prevalence of oral ulcer among Sample of Patients in Aden City, Yemen.

Methodology: This cross-sectional study was carried out among 11-65 years old patients. The data was collected using convenience sampling technique and 841 patients were surveyed, the sampling was collected from dental patients at Aden University and University of Science and Technology and other public health centers from June 2021 to July 2022. The data were collected using a self-reported questionnaire; the questionnaires adapted from other studies on the same topic and had two sections.

Results: The study sample was 841 patients, about 369 patients of the total sample were had oral ulcers, this makes the overall prevalence (43.9%). Males were 388 (46.1 %) cases less than females 453 (53.9%) with statistically significant difference (P=0.043), most of the study participants were single (651, 77.4%, P=0.001). Regarding the systematic diseases, 151 (18.0%) of the patients reported that they had a history of systemic diseases (P=0.009). History of using drugs was reported by 130 (15.5%) of the cases (P=0.001).

Conclusion: the prevalence of oral recurrent ulcers among the patient of Aden City, Yemen was high. Females were more commonly affected than males. The most common site was gingiva followed by lips and tongue. Gender, marital status, using medications, and systemic diseases were the associated factors for occurrence.