Seasonal and gender variation in skin disease: A cross-sectional study of 3120 patients at Razi hospital

Abstract

Objective: We aimed to determine the prevalence of different skin diseases and their seasonal variations at the Razi dermatology hospital from 2019 to 2020.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we obtained data from the medical records of 3120 patients visiting the dermatology clinic of Razi hospital. The prevalence of skin diseases was evaluated using meteorologically defined seasons. We looked for significant equally distributed results during each season.Results: During all seasons, women were referred to our clinic more frequently than men. Some diseases demonstrated significant seasonality with a peak during the winter, including acne, eczema, wart, seborrheic dermatitis, nevus, vitiligo, lentigo, and dermatophytosis. Atopic dermatitis was more frequent during the spring and winter compared with other seasons (p < .05). Actinic keratosis and lichen planus showed a significant seasonal trend with a peak during the summer (p < .05). Infections, including viral, bacterial, and fungal skin diseases, were more frequent during the winter than the summer (p = .001).Conclusion: This study provides an overview of the seasonal distribution of dermatology visits at our referral hospital, which will aid in developing better policies to prevent and manage skin disorders in outpatient visits.

Keywords

• Seasonal variation
• skin disease
• prevalence
• Iran