Demodex infestation as a cause of sensitive skin in a dermatology outpatient clinic.

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Sensitive skin is subjective cutaneous hyperreactivity to environmental factors. Demodicosis is a skin disorder caused by Demodex mites. There may be a link between demodicosis and sensitive skin. This study aimed to examine facial Demodex mites density and other factors associated with sensitive skin in patients. A total of 349 randomly selected patients presented to the dermatology department. The research data were collected using a questionnaire form that included the participants' sociodemographic and lifestyle characteristics, a sensitive skin questionnaire, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), and European Health Interview Survey (EHIS). Patients underwent standardized superficial skin surface biopsy of 4 areas of the face. D.folliculorum count greater than 5mites/cm2 was considered positive. In relation to Demodex, there was an increase in skin sensitivity with higher Demodex density (p=0.04). There was a statistically significant, weak positive correlation between skin sensitivity and DLQI score (r=0.33, p=0.00), and there was also a significant but very weak negative correlation between skin sensitivity and EUROHIS (r=-0.164, p=0.002). Skin sensitivity was more common in patients with a concomitant dermatological disease (p=0.01) and increased with more frequent cosmetic use (p=0.00). Alongside other risk factors, for the patients presenting with complaints of sensitive skin, investigating Demodex population density may help alleviate sensitive skin symptoms with appropriate therapies and preventive measures.