Prevalence of dermatological disorders in Japan: a nationwide, cross-sectional, seasonal, multicenter, hospital-based study

Abstract

To clarify the prevalence of skin disorders among dermatology patients in Japan, a nationwide, cross-sectional, seasonal, multicenter study was conducted in 69 university hospitals, 45 district-based pivotal hospitals, and 56 private clinics (170 clinics in total). In each clinic, information was collected on the diagnosis, age, and gender of all outpatients and inpatients who visited the clinic on any one day of the second week in each of May, August, and November 2007 and February 2008. Among 67,448 cases, the top twenty skin disorders were, in descending order of incidence, miscellaneous eczema, atopic dermatitis, tinea pedis, urticaria/angioedema, tinea unguium, viral warts, psoriasis, contact dermatitis, acne, seborrheic dermatitis, hand eczema, miscellaneous benign skin tumors, alopecia areata, herpes zoster/postherpetic neuralgia, skin ulcers (nondiabetic), prurigo, epidermal cysts, vitiligo vulgaris, seborrheic keratosis, and drug eruption/toxicoderma. Atopic dermatitis, impetigo, molluscum, warts, acne, and miscellaneous eczema shared their top-ranking position in the pediatric population, whereas the most common disorders among the geriatric population were tinea pedis, tinea unguium, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, and miscellaneous eczema. For some disorders, such as atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, urticaria/angioedema, prurigo, insect bites, and tinea pedis, the number of patients correlated with the average high and low monthly temperatures. Males showed a greater susceptibility to some diseases (psoriasis, erythroderma, diabetic dermatoses, inter alia), whereas females were more susceptible to others (erythema nodosum, collagen diseases, livedo reticularis/racemosa, hand eczema, inter alia). In conclusion, this hospital-based study highlights the present situation regarding dermatological patients in the early 21st century in Japan.