OBJECTIVETo study the epidemiology of foot diseases, including tinea pedis and onychomycosis in clinic attendees in Hong Kong.

METHODSTwo groups were included: the institutional group consisted of clinical evaluation and mycological investigations by dermatologists; and the private group consisted of clinical evaluation only by the private physicians. Patients who had a regular visit to the clinics were randomly invited to have a clinical examination of their feet.

RESULTSA total of 1014 patients were studied. The prevalence rate of foot disease, fungal infections, tinea pedis and toe nail onychomycosis were respectively 50.7%, 26.9%, 20.4% and 16.6%. More male and elderly patients were affected except that the sex prevalence in toe nail onychomycosis was not shown to be significant. Vascular disease, diabetes mellitus and obesity were the three most prevalent predisposing factors in foot disease, fungal disease and fungal nail disease. Dermatophytes, in particular Trichophyton rubrum, were shown to be the most common pathogen in both skin and nail infections.

CONCLUSIONSFoot diseases, especially tinea pedis and toe nail onychomycosis, are common in patients attending local clinics in Hong Kong. Both physicians and patients should be more aware of foot problems and have more active approaches and management strategies.

Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Child ; Female ; Hong Kong ; epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Onychomycosis ; epidemiology ; Prevalence ; Prospective Studies ; Tinea Pedis ; epidemiology

In the past 15 years, from 1986 to 2000, 2,763 cases of superficial mycoses had been diagnosed and treated in Jillin Province. Other mycoses included 1,450 cases of tinea versicolor, 497 cases of candidiasis, 142 cases of sporotrichosis, 1 case of chromomycosis, and 47 cases of aspergillosis. Among the 2,763 cases of superficial mycoses, 762 cases were tinea cruris, 246 cases were tinea manus, 661 cases were tinea pedis, and 156 cases were onychomycosis. From the region, there was a high incidence of sporotrichosis in the middle and the west part of our province, and there was rather low incidence of it in the eastern mountain areas. We separated Sporothrix schenckii from the natural environment. Sporothrix schenckii was separated from the plants and the soil in both the region of high incidence and low incidence. Therefore, the reason why there's a low incidence in the eastern mountain areas is still unknown. Pathogenic fungi were separated, and we found 2,038 strains of T. rubrum, which came first in the pathogenic fungi of dermatophytoses. Coming next were T. mentagiophytes, M. canis, E. floccosum, M. gypseum and T. violaseum. Sporothrix schenckii was separated from all of the 142 cases of sporotrichosis. Candida albicans A, Candida albicans B, Candida tropicalis and Candida parapsilosis were separated from candidiasis; Exophiala jeanselmei was separated chromomycosis; A. fumigatus, A. niger, and A. favus were separated from aspergillosis. The problem we should pay attention to is; In the 1980's, M. canis came third in the pathogenic fungi of dermatophytoses, first in that of tinea capitis, which took 84.2% in the pathogenic fungi of tinea capitis. But from the beginning of 1990's, the number had declined. By the end of 1990's, M. canis just took 9.6 percent in the pathogenic fungi of tinea capitis. And the separation rate of M. canis from cat had obviously declined. Whether it's getting to vanish like M. ferrugineum also needs paying attention to.
Animals ; Aspergillosis ; Candida ; Candida albicans ; Candida tropicalis ; Candidiasis ; Cats ; China* ; Chromoblastomycosis ; Epidemiology ; Exophiala ; Fungi ; Incidence ; Mycoses ; Niger ; Onychomycosis ; Soil ; Sporothrix ; Sporotrichosis ; Tinea ; Tinea Capitis ; Tinea Favosa ; Tinea Pedis ; Tinea Versicolor

This study was conducted to clarify the prevalence of common skin diseases and their associated factors among military personnel in Korea. Four dermatologists visited adjacent military units and examined soldiers. A structured questionnaire that included questions about known skin diseases, demographic information, and questions for the Perceived Stress Index was completed for each participant. The soldiers that had been diagnosed with a skin disease answered one additional questionnaire (Skindex-29) which assess the influence of an individual's skin disease on daily life. Of 1,321 soldiers examined, 798 (60.4%) had one or more skin diseases. The three most common skin problems were acne (35.6%), tinea pedis (15.2%) and atopic dermatitis (5.1%). The diseases closely related to the period of military service were acne, tinea pedis, viral warts and corns. The diseases related to the amount of stress were atopic dermatitis, seborrheic dermatitis, and acne. The most troublesome skin diseases were atopic dermatitis, tinea cruris, and seborrheic dermatitis. These results demonstrated that the prevalence of skin disease among military personnel in Korea is very high, and that some of the skin disorders may have a significant influence on their daily lives.
Acne Vulgaris/epidemiology ; Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Dermatitis, Atopic/epidemiology ; Humans ; Male ; Military Personnel ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Quality of Life ; Questionnaires ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Risk Factors ; Skin Diseases/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Stress, Psychological ; Tinea Pedis/epidemiology ; Young Adult

BACKGROUND: In many epidemiologic reports of distribution of skin diseases, the outpatients of university hospitals have been the target groups of the analysis. But there has been no epidemiologic study of dermatoses in the field of rural area. OBJECTIVE: The purposes of this study were to investigate the distribution of skin diseases in rural areas and to evaluate the rural population's concept of skin disease and the attitude to their skin problems. METHOD: We analysed the results of interview and responses of questionnaires from 481 residents who visited the local public health centers and the free clinics in the rural areas of Kyonggi-Do and Ulsan city. RESULTS: The results of the study are summarized as follows : 1. Of 481 residents, there were 328 females and 153 males. The mean age was 56.6 years old. The residents over 50 years old formed 73.2 percent of total population. 2. The common dermatoses were tinea pedis, onychomycosis, xerosis, seborrheic keratosis, chloasma, pruritus, hand eczema, contact dermatitis, lentigo, seborrheic dermatitis in order of frequency. 3. The cutaneous fungal infection was the most common dermatoses in each study population. 4. To treat skin diseases, 51.2% of the residents visited the drug store initially. 5. The major reason of not taking dermatological care in the rural population was customary habit. 6. The 39.5% of 238 respondents have used self-treatments, and 15.5% of 90 respondents have experienced side effects of self-treatments. 7. On the question about the negative concepts of dermatoses, 61.7% of 462 respondents agreed to the statement that dermatoses look unclean. 8. Half of the 463 respondents thought that dermatologic medicine was harmful. The 50.6% of the 328 respondents had no specific reason, and 34.1% experienced gastrointestinal trouble. 9. The most favorite type of dermatologic medicine was topical agent, which was preferred especially by the group of respondents using nonmedical service including drug store. CONCLUSION: The distribution of the skin diseases in rural areas was similar to other reported results except the high frequency of cutaneous fungal infection. This research could be a basis on the following epidemiologic studies of the skin diseases in rural areas. It is also suggested that the educational program to improve understanding of skin diseases should be performed in the rural areas.
Surveys and Questionnaires ; Dermatitis ; Dermatitis, Contact ; Dermatitis, Seborrheic ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Epidemiology ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do ; Hand ; Hospitals, University ; Humans ; Keratosis, Seborrheic ; Lentigo ; Male ; Melanosis ; Middle Aged ; Onychomycosis ; Outpatients ; Pruritus ; Public Health ; Rural Population ; Skin Diseases* ; Skin* ; Tinea Pedis ; Ulsan