Clinical profile of patients diagnosed with oral lichen planus: cross-sectional, multicenter study

• Grant number: 23/16467-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: February 01, 2024
• End date: December 31, 2024
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Dentistry
• Principal Investigator: Ana Carolina Fragoso Motta
• Grantee: Isadora de Oliveira Catan
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Odontologia de Ribeirão Preto (FORP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic, immune-mediated mucocutaneous inflammatory disease of undefined etiology, which predominantly affects middle-aged women and whose worldwide prevalence is established at 1% to 2%. The characteristic clinical manifestation consists of white streaks, with certain symmetry, bilateral, associated or not with ulcerative, erythematous, plaque or bullous lesions, affecting any area of the oral mucosa, mainly the buccal mucosa. There is still no consensus regarding the classification of OLP, but numerous characteristics have been identified to improve the characterization of the disease and establish a better protocol for diagnosis and treatment. In the Brazilian population, there is a lack of clinical studies that describe well-characterized samples of OLP and with a considerable number of patients, as well as a lack of standardization of a set of basic outcomes suitable for the planning and development of therapeutic clinical studies. In this sense, this project aims to contribute to this standardization and describe the clinical profile of patients with OLP treated at three dental schools in Brazil, between May 2014 and December 2023, through a cross-sectional, retrospective study. Furthermore, we intend to adapt this characterization to the recent recommendation of the World Workshop on Oral Medicine VIII (WWOM VIII) for therapeutic clinical studies. Sociodemographic variables, clinical appearance, severity of injuries, symptoms, smoking history, medication use and the impacts of the disease on the social and psychological context and on the development of physiological functions will be investigated. Descriptive statistics will be performed and investigation of the association between variables will be carried out using chi-square or Fisher's exact tests for categorical results, and parametric tests (t test) and non-parametric tests (Mann Whitney) for continuous results. The present study was previously approved by the Research Ethics Committee (CAAE Protocol No: 33703114.8.0000.5419).