P34 Changing patterns of skin diseases in patients attending a tertiary private hospital in central Uganda

Abstract

Abstract There is scarce epidemiological data available on the prevalence of skin disorders in Uganda, a tropical country in sub-Saharan Africa. Skin diseases are a common occurrence in sub-Saharan Africa but receive less attention because they are perceived to cause less mortality. Previous studies have reported a skin disorder prevalence of 30–70% in the general population of developing countries. The majority of studies in sub-Saharan Africa reveal skin infections as the most common dermatology disorder, with a few studies reporting a changing trend toward eczematous disorders. The aim was to investigate the spectrum of skin disorders at a tertiary private healthcare hospital in central Uganda. A cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2021 to August 2022. All patients attending the outpatient skin clinic were recruited. Initial visits were considered. The diagnosis was made clinically and, where necessary, additional investigations were carried out. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 21 (IBM) and Microsoft Excel. A total of 1097 diagnoses were made in 913 patients, of whom 72.9% were adults and 27.1% were under 18 years of age. There were 488 (53.4%) females and a mean (SD) age of 28.9 (16.2) years. The top-five diagnoses were eczematous disorders (n = 223; 20.3%), adnexal disorders (n = 195; 17.8%), infections (n = 182; 16.6%), papulosquamous disorders (n = 93; 8.5%) and pigmentary disorders (n = 59; 5.4%). The results of this research show changing patterns of skin disease presentation from infections in 2016 to eczematous disorders in 2022 as the leading cause of outpatient dermatology consultation at a tertiary private hospital in central Uganda. This calls for proper replanning and budget allocation given the changing spectrum of skin disease presentation at this facility.