A Epidemiological Study of Dermatoses in Soldiers of Kangwon Province

Chung, Seung Joon; Lee, Weon Ju; Koo, Dae Won

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The results of epidemiological studies are different from each other by genetics, social circumstances and cultures etc. There are few reports of statistical study about dermatoses in Korean soldiers, especially in Kangwon province.
OBJECTIVE
We performed this study to know the profile of the distribution of dermatoses in Korean soldiers in Kangwon province and to compare it with results of other studies.
METHODS
From Jan. 1998 to Dec. 1999, the dermatoses of new patients who visited the outpatient department of dermatology in the Chunchon Armed Forces General Hospital are recorded by rank, age and month. They are analyzed by group of disease and disease itself.
RESULTS
The total number of outpatients was 2,827. The proportion of new private was 0.9%; private 22.9%; private first class 30.6%; corporal 29.7% and sergeant 15.9%. The age of patients ranges from 18 to 28 years old; 95.5% were between 20 and 23 years old. The seasonal incidence was greatest in summer, and autumn, spring and winter in the right order. The frequent dermatoses were dermatophytosis, contact dermatitis, scabies, ingrowing nail, urticaria, verruca, tinea versicolor, folliculitis, atopic dermatitis, ecthyma, acne, alopecia areata, nummular eczema, corn, cold injury, paronychia, psoriasis, seborrheic dermatitis, herpes zoster, pityriasis rosea, and insect bite in the right order, respectively above 1% of total number of outpatients. The frequent groups of dermatoses were eczema, diseases resulted from fungi and yeasts, disorders due to animal parasites, viral dermatoses, dermatoses due to physical agents, bacterial infections, drug eruption, erythema and urticaria, diseases of the hair, diseases of the nails, diseases of the glands, papulosquamous diseases, and pruritus and neurocutaneous dermatoses in the right order.
CONCLUSION
The distinct feature of the dermatoses in soldiers of Kangwon province is the fact of high frequency in contact dermatitis, folliculitis, verruca, ingrowing nail, ecthyma, corn, cold injury, and paronychia and low frequency of acne, seborrheic dermatitis, and urticaria. The percentage of dermatoses due to physical agents is relatively high and that of drug eruption, erythema and urticaria is relatively low. The proportion of total infectious diseases is 40.4%.