Skin findings of geriatric patients in Turkey: A 5-year survey

Abstract

“Geriatric patients” are a special group among dermatology patients because of the higher incidences of dermatologic and systemic diseases in this group. We aimed to determine the prevalence of dermatologic diseases, their relationship with age/sex, and hospitalization diagnoses with average times of hospitalization in the aged population. A total 7412 patients aged > 65 years who were admitted to dermatology clinics between April 2009 and April 2014 were included in this analysis. Hospital databases were used for data collection. The data were analyzed according to age, sex, hospitalization rate, and average hospitalization time. Of the total 7412 geriatric patients enrolled in this study, 3640 (49.1%) were male and 3772 (50.9%) female. The two most frequent dermatologic diseases were eczematous dermatitis (32.2%) and skin infections and infestations (18.5%). In females, bullous diseases were more common, whereas in males, skin infections and infestations were more common ( p < 0.05). The most frequent disease, in terms of hospitalization, was the eczematous dermatitis. The longest hospitalization times were for skin infections and infestations. There were no differences between the diseases according to age groups ( p > 0.05). Eczematous dermatitis is the most common dermatologic disease in the elderly. Both treatment resistance and difficulty in differential diagnoses make eczematous dermatitis and pruritus the two most frequent reasons for hospitalization. Additionally, dividing patients into subgroups according to age has no relevance to dermatological practice.