ISSN: 2639-2038
Pattern of Skin Diseases in Ebonyi State University Teaching Hospital
We report the pattern of skin diseases seen in the dermatology clinic of the Ebonyi State University Teaching
Hospital, Abakaliki from November 1998 to December 2012. Four thousand and six (4006) new patients were seen
during the study period. There were more females than males with a female/male ratio of 1.42:1. Infectious diseases
accounted for 30.8% of all the skin disorders. This is consistent with early studies carried out in Nigeria and some
other parts of Africa. Other top ranking skin diseases observed in decreasing order of frequencies include eczematous
disorders (27.7%), urticaria/pruritus (7.7%), pilosebaceous disorders (5.4%), pigmentary disorders (5.1%) and
papulosquamous disorders (5.0%). HIV related skin diseases accounted for 2.7% of disorders seen. The current
pattern of diseases observed seemed to follow similar pattern observed in earlier studies and in contrast to recent
studies. Infectious disorders ranked highest with eczematous disorders closely following.
Keywords:
Epidemiology; Africa; Diagnosis; Skin
Introduction
Skin diseases are important and are a common cause
of ill
