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Comparison of tobacco and alcohol consumption in young and older patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

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Abstract

Objective

To compare the proportion of young (up to 45 years of age) and older (over 45 years of age) oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) patients who report tobacco and alcohol consumption.

Methods

Observational studies reporting tobacco and alcohol consumption among young and older OSCC patients were selected in a two-phase process. Search strategies were conducted on five main electronic databases and complemented by grey literature. The risk of bias was assessed using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data. Synthesis of results was calculated with the software R Statistics version 4.0.2 (The R Foundation).

Results

From 6675 records identified, 38 studies met the eligibility criteria and were selected for qualitative synthesis and meta-analysis, encompassing 2439 young and 13,393 older patients. Tobacco smoking was reported by 39.5% (confidence interval (CI) = 31.7% to 47.9%, I2 = 78%) of the young patients and 48.4% (CI = 37.8% to 59.2%, I2 = 94%) of the older patients. Alcohol consumption was reported by 30.9% (CI = 22.7% to 40.5%, I2 = 83%) of the young and 45.8% (CI = 35.6% to 56.5%, I2 = 95%) of the older patients (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

The comparison in the proportion of individuals reporting tobacco and alcohol consumption demonstrated that these habits were more prevalent in the older group (48.4% and 45.8% respectively) than in the young group (39.5% and 30.9%, respectively).

Clinical relevance

As a significant proportion of patients with OSCC reported no habits, novel risk factors for OSCC need to be investigated in further research.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Gilberto Mello for helping with figures generation.

Funding

Elis Angela Batistella was supported in part by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior – Brasil (CAPES) – Finance Code 001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Rector David Ferreira Lima Campus, Trindade, Florianopolis, SC, 88037150, Brazil

    Elis Ângela Batistella

  2. Department of Pathology, Health Sciences Center, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Florianopolis, SC, Brazil

    Rogério Gondak & Elena Riet Correa Rivero

  3. Department of Oral Medicine and Experimental Oral Pathology, King’s College Dental Institute, Bessemer Road, London, SE5 9RS, UK

    Saman Warnakulasuriya

  4. WHO Collaborating Centre for Oral Cancer and Precancer in the United Kingdom, Denmark Hill Campus, London, SE5 9RS, UK

    Saman Warnakulasuriya

  5. Laboratory of Oral Histopathology, Health Sciences Faculty, University of Brasilia (UnB), Brasilia, DF, Brazil

    Eliete Guerra

  6. Laboratoire de Neurobiologie OroFaciale, Université de Paris, France and GHPS Assitance Publique Hopitaux de Paris, Paris, France

    André Luís Porporatti

  7. Brazilian Centre for Evidence-Based Research, Department of Dentistry, Federal University of Santa Catarina (UFSC), Florianopolis, SC, Brazil

    Graziela De Luca Canto

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  1. Elis Ângela Batistella
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Contributions

EAB, RG, and GDLC conceived the study.

SW, AP, EG helped in study design.

EAB, RG and ERCR collected the data.

EAB, RG and ERCR analyzed the data.

EAB led the writing.

EAB, RG, SW, ALP, EG, ERCR, and GDLC reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Elis Ângela Batistella.

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Batistella, E.Â., Gondak, R., Rivero, E.R.C. et al. Comparison of tobacco and alcohol consumption in young and older patients with oral squamous cell carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Clin Oral Invest 26, 6855–6869 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00784-022-04719-z

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