Prevalence of skin disorders among primary school children in Diyarbakir, Turkey.

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of childhood dermatoses in Diyarbakir, which is located in the southeastern region of Turkey. MATERIAL AND METHOD This cross-sectional study was carried out in April 2008 among students of eight randomly selected public primary schools in Diyarbakir. Students were examined and questionnaire was applied to determine socioeconomic levels and socio-demographic features. RESULTS A total of 1932 students were examined by dermatologists. Nine hundred and fifty three (49.32%) girls, mean age was 11.06±2.13 (range 6-17). The overall point prevalence of skin disorders was 59.1%. Among this sample 776 children (40.2%) had only one skin disease whereas 299 (15.5%) had two and 67 (3.5%) had at least three. The point prevalence of skin disorders was 33.1% among students in grade 1 and 78.9% among students in grade 8 (p<0.05). The most common skin disease was eczema (32.8%), followed by pigmentation disorders (17.2%), skin infections (13.4%), scalp disorders (10.1%) and acne vulgaris (9.6%). Infectious skin problems, pigmentation disorders, hair and scalp disorders and acne vulgaris were more common among girls compared to boys (p<0.05). In addition, infectious skin problems were more common among boarders (p<0.05) compared to day students. CONCLUSION Skin disorders affected 59.1% of the studied children. Skin disorders were more common among girls and boarders in this study, this group of children should be given specific attention in formulating preventive measures.