Pattern of skin diseases in Eastern Saudi Arabia

OBJECTIVE: To describe the pattern of skin disease in the Eastern Province and compare it with similar studies carried out in other regions of Saudi Arabia.

METHODS: All new dermatology cases reporting at King Fahd Hospital of the University in Al-Khobar, Saudi Arabia, seen between August 2002 to July 2003 were reviewed.

RESULTS: One thousand and seventy-six new patients within the period of the study were seen. Dermatitis/ eczema was the most frequent dermatosis (19.6%) with atopic dermatitis forming 35.9% among eczemas, followed by acne (13.8%), viral infection (13.5%), of which 11.9% had viral warts; pigmentary disorders (9.7%) with vitiligo comprising 5% of the total. In fungal infections (9.6%), dermatophytoses formed 6.3% of the total patients, alopecias 7.2%, papulosquamous disorders 6.4%, of which 3.4% had psoriasis and 1.7% had lichen planus; urticaria 5.7%, pyoderma 4.8%, and the parasitic infections, 1%.

CONCLUSION: This comparative study showed that eczema was the most frequent diagnosis among all skin diseases and parasitic infections were the least frequent diseases. Generally, the Eastern Province study is closely comparable to other studies in the country with higher frequencies of viral and fungal infections and acne.