Oral Cancer Screening in Elderly in Sao Paulo State, Brazil (2001 to 2009)

Objective: To describe and explore analytically the trends of oral cancer positive cases incidence during nine-year screenings campaign of Sao Paulo´s State (Brazil) and to show other countries and health services an option for tracking at-risk population. Material and Methods: Secondary official data were tabulated and analysed using the Excel and STATA statistical 10.0 software packages. After descriptive statistics, the trend curves were calculated by moving average for each variable (type moving average of two samples centred) to attenuate the random variability of the series, and trends classified: stable, ascending and descending. Results: The trend of municipalities numbers remained stable; the number of examined people, the screening coverage and the absolute number of patients referred to secondary health care showed an increasing trend; and the percentage of suspected cases showed a decreasing trend during the nine-year period. A decrease in the number of suspicious lesions and confirmed cases of oral cancer among the volunteers was observed, and the reorganization of secondary and tertiary levels of oral care helped to modify these numbers. Conclusion: We believe this experience was more important to help health services organization than for the oral cancer diagnosis itself, and it might be used to inspire other countries and oral health services.