Pattern of skin diseases in patients attending the dermatology outpatient of a tertiary care hospital

Objective: To know the pattern of skin disorders amongst patients reporting to the Dermatology outpatient of a tertiary care hospital. Study Design: Cross-sectional study. Place and Duration of Study: Dermatology OPD Combined Military Hospital, Bahawalpur Pakistan from May to Oct 2022. Methodology: Eight thousand sixty-eight patients attending the outpatient department (OPD) for skin problems were included in the study. Consultants with Postgraduate qualifications in Dermatology diagnosed all cases. Diagnosis of skin problems were noted for each patient. Diseases were categorized into various groups. Results: The mean age of patients was 29.04±15.941 years. 54.35% of patients (n=4385) were in the 20-40 years age range. Infections were the most commonly seen disease group (n=2152,26.7%), followed by dermatitis and eczematous disorders (n=1784,22.1%), parasitic diseases (n=1341,16.6%) and acquired pigmentary disorders (n=579,7.2%) in descending order of frequency. Together, these four groups of diseases accounted for 72.6% of total patients. Infections and infestations accounted for 43.3% of patients reporting to our outpatients during the study period. Scabies was the most common disease in 15.6% (n=1262) of our patients. Scabies and dermatophyte infections were the two most commonly encountered diseases. These two diseases comprised 26.5% (n=2141) of the total cases. Conclusion: Infections and infestations accounted for 43.3% of patients reporting to our outpatients during the study period. Scabies and dermatophyte infections were the two most commonly encountered diseases. Public health education regarding personal hygiene and dermatological care availability can help lessen the burden of skin diseases. (author)