Abstract:

Objective To investigate the prevalence of 15 skin diseases in adolescents from Liangshan prefecture in Sichuan Province. Methods A stratified cluster random sampling method was used to select subjects. Adolescents from 2 urban and 3 rural middle schools were investigated, who were required to fulfill self-report questionnaires and received physical examinations by doctors. Results A total of 7747 adolescents aged from 12 to 20 （15.86 ± 1.86） years were included in the investigation, and skin diseases were present in 6379 adolescents, with a total incidence of 82.34%. In average, each subject suffered from 1.3372 ± 0.96861 skin diseases. Of the adolescents, 4698 （60.64%） had acne, 2219 （28.64%） freckle, 966 （12.47%） lichen pilaris, 792 （10.22%） eczema or dermatitis, 511 （6.60%） urticaria, 195 （2.52%） papular urticaria, 37 （0.48%） vitiligo, 55 （0.71%） psoriasis, 166 （2.14%） verruca vulgaris, 168 （2.17%） flat wart, 317 （4.09%） tinea manus and pedis, 142 （1.83%） tinea corporis, 62 （0.80%） chloasma, 26 （0.34%） nevus flammeus, 15 （0.19%） nevus of ota. Male adolescents showed a higher incidence of acne （63.91% vs. 58.50%）, but a lower incidence of eczema, lichen pilaris, freckle, chloasma and psoriasis compared with female adolescents. The incidence of acne, vitiligo, psoriasis and melasma were higher, while that of freckele was lower （25.93% vs. 29.58%） in Yi adolescents than in Han adolescents. Increased incidence of acne and papular urticaria and decreased prevalence of urticaria, freckle, melasma and lichen pilaris were observed in urban adolescents compared with rural adolescents. Conclusions The prevalence of skin diseases is high in adolescents from Liangshan prefecture. Of these 15 skin diseases, acne, freckle, lichen pilaris, eczema and urticaria are the 5 most common diseases in the area. Differences exist in the incidence of skin diseases between male and female, Han and Yi, urban and rural, adolescents.

Key words: Skin disease Epidemiology Liangshan district Prevalence rate