Frequency of Tinea Versicolor in male high school students, Babol, 2001-04

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Tinea versicolor is one of the most common skin infections in tropical area, which causes ugly appearance especially in young people. This study was performed to determine the frequency of this disease in male high school students in Babol. METHODS: This cross sectional and descriptive study was performed on 2064 students with randomly cluster method. Data was gathered by questionnaires and frequency of this disease was recorded. FINDINGS: From 2064 students, 91% lived in urban area and 9% in rural area. 8.2% had tinea versicolor infection, which 94% of populations were urban and 6% were rural. Clinical examination of students was performed in spring. Family history in 11.7% was positive and in 88.3% was negative. 29.5% patients took a bath one time per week and 70.5% two or more times. The prevalence of skin lesions was 40% in head and neck, 43.5% in chest and back and 16.5% in other parts of body. CONCLUSION: With regard to high frequency of this disease among male high school students (about 10%) in this area we recommend further epidemiologic studies in different areas and age groups and also educating others about disease prevention methods.

Keywords

• tinea versicolor
• babol
• high school
• skin diseases