Oral health actions in the primary health care network of northeastern brazil in relation to oral cancer

ABSTRACT Objective: To describe oral health actions against oral cancer promoted by Primary Health Care Teams in northeastern Brazil. Methods: This is a descriptive and inferential study based on data related to detection, referral, registration, follow-up and documents related to these actions in the External Evaluation of the 1st and 2nd Program for Improving Access and Quality of Primary Care Cycles. Results: Overall, 5,599 and 7,700 teams were evaluated, respectively, in the first and second cycles, with the highest and lowest concentrations in the states of Bahia / Maranhão and Bahia / Sergipe. In all, 58.9% / 79.7% Health Teams conducted campaigns to detect oral lesions and referred suspected cases of oral cancer, and 43.9% / 23% of them recorded and followed suspicious / confirmed cases and only 20.7% / 16.2% had documents proving these records in the respective cycles. There was statistical significance in the comparisons of actions and the evaluation cycles (p ? 0.01). Conclusion: Health teams in northeastern Brazil need to improve actions related to detection, referral, registration, follow-up and verification of oral health documents related to oral cancer.