Epidemiology of recurrent aphthous stomatitis and co-related factors

ABSTRACT

Recurrent aphthous stomatitis [RAS] is the most common oral ulcerative disease that affects 20% of general population. The etiology of RAS is unknown and it is due several different mechanisms. The purpose of study was to assess the epidemiology and related factors in its occurrence. In this descriptive -cross sectional study, 1105 persons attending to health centers in Zahedan, selected in a multi-stage random manner, were assessed for abundance and effective factors in development of RAS. The data were gathered as single stage and by interview, completion of a questionnaire and clinical examination. The data were analyzed by Chi-squared test using SPSS software. Among 1105 persons [476 males and 629 females] examined, 199 persons [18%] were affected by aphthea and 168 [84.4%] case had minor, 26 case [13.1%] had major and 5 case [2.5%] had herpetiform aphthea. In this research, there were significant correlations between the abundance of RAS and age [P<0.001], education [P<0.001], job [P=0.002], allergy [P=0.02], kind of allergy [P =0.004], predisposing disease [P =0.005], family history [P< 0.001] and brushing [P<0.001]. No significant differences were found between the abundance of RAS and gender, using snuf, tobacco or mouth wash. RAS is a multifactorial lesion and factors such as age, high-stress job, high education, trauma and allergy are positively co-related with occurrence of the aphthea