Abstract
Objective: To evaluate the index of Potential Years Lost by people diagnosed with oral squamous cell carcinoma in the State of Pará. Methods: Observational and ecological study. An analysis of the distribution of oral squamous cell carcinoma in the State of Pará was carried out with data obtained from 318 patients affected by this carcinoma and treated at a referral hospital, from January 2007 to August 2016. The Index of potential years of life lost by the formula adapted from Romeder and McWhinie. Consultation was carried out using the Data Assignment Term (TCD). Results: The most affected age is in the sixth decade of life, where men stand out in relation to women. About 61% of the patients were smokers at diagnosis and approximately 44.65% did not use alcohol. The language is English as the most affected site for children. It was a total of 921.5 years of lives lost for the patients studied. Conclusion: These studies serve as a basis for correcting the impacts and social impacts of carcinoma, helping to direct public policies for early diagnosis and better training for professionals working in this area, which can avoid costly expenses for health in the future.