Skin disease patterns in Hormozgan, Iran

Skin diseases are the most common cause of referrals to general practitioners and dermatologists, and are considered a health problem in developing countries. The aim of this study was to report the extent and patterns of skin diseases in southern Iran.

All new cases of skin diseases referred to Shahid Mohammadi Hospital, Bandar Abbas, Southern Iran over a 3-year period were retrospectively considered. The dermatologic diagnoses, sex and age were recorded for each patient and the diagnoses were classified according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10).

A total of 6841 patients were referred to the dermatology clinic of the hospital (48.27% male and 51.73% female). Infectious and parasitic diseases, including infections of the skin and subcutaneous tissues, were found to be the most common skin diseases (32.1%), followed by dermatitis and eczema (24.5%), disorders of the skin and subcutaneous tissue such as pigmentation disorders (9.7%), papulosquamous disorders (3.8%), urticaria and erythema (2.8%), burns, corrosion and unspecified injuries (3.3%), radiation-related disorders (2.3%), neoplasm (0.8%) and diseases of the oral cavity, salivary glands and jaw (0.3%).

It appears that certain skin diseases such as dermatitis and eczema, superficial mycoses and scabies cause serious health problems in the region. Emphasis should be placed on this group of common skin diseases at all levels of personal health care, and suitable public health policies should be implemented in order to manage this problem rationally.