Publication:

Pattern of geriatric dermatoses at a tertiary care center in North-East India

Background The aging population is dramatically increasing with the increase in the average life. It is faced with different health problems which include skin as well. The aim was to study the clinical pattern of geriatric dermatoses and associated systemic diseases.

Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted for a period of 18 months to study the pattern of geriatric dermatoses on 250 geriatric patients aged above 60 years attending Dermatology OPD, RIMS, Imphal.

Results Out of 250 patients 136 were males and 114 were females. The mean age was 67.28 years and the male to female ratio was 1.19:1. Majority of the patients belonged to the 60-69 age group (66%). 63.2% had the dermatosis for more than 1 month before presentation. The most common dermatoses were: infections (26.4%), eczemas (22.4%), papulosquamous (10.4%), photodermatoses (8.0%) and infestations (6.8%). Herpes zoster (13.2%) and superficial fungal infections (7.6%) was the most common infections. Lichen simplex chronicus (6%). was the main form of eczema. Psoriasis (6%) and lichen planus (4.4%) were the common papulosquamous disorders. Chronic actinic dermatitis (6%) represented as the main pattern of photodermatoses. Uncommon disorders were tumors (4%), immunobullous (2.6%), drug reaction (2.4%), vitiligo (2%) and alopecia areata (0.8%). Main co-morbid systemic diseases were hypertension (16.4%) and diabetes mellitus (6.8%).

Conclusions Different disease entities in the elderly demands different approach to management. Contributing factors like neglect, delay in seeking treatment, co-morbidities have to be properly addressed. Health education on proper skin care, avoidance of irritants and self-medication etc would help reduce the incidence of common dermatoses.