Skip Navigation Links.
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 12 (2024)</span>Volume 12 (2024)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 11 (2023)</span>Volume 11 (2023)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 10 (2022)</span>Volume 10 (2022)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 9 (2021)</span>Volume 9 (2021)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 8 (2020)</span>Volume 8 (2020)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 7 (2019)</span>Volume 7 (2019)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 6 (2018)</span>Volume 6 (2018)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 5 (2017)</span>Volume 5 (2017)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 4 (2016)</span>Volume 4 (2016)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 3 (2015)</span>Volume 3 (2015)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 2 (2014)</span>Volume 2 (2014)
Collapse <span class="m110 colortj mt20 fontw700">Volume 1 (2013)</span>Volume 1 (2013)
American Journal of Public Health Research. 2015, 3(5A), 64-66
DOI: 10.12691/AJPHR-3-5A-14
Research Article

Burden of Skin Diseases in Western Nepal: A Hospital Based Study

Binamra Basnet1, , Saraswoti Neupane1, Shristi Shrestha2 and Sujan Gautam3

1Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara, Nepal

2Department of Ophthalmology, Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, Nepal

3Department of Community Medicine, Gandaki Medical College, Pokhara, Nepal

Pub. Date: October 28, 2015
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Health Scenario 2015; Millennium Development Goals)
Full Text PDF

Cite this paper

Binamra Basnet, Saraswoti Neupane, Shristi Shrestha and Sujan Gautam. Burden of Skin Diseases in Western Nepal: A Hospital Based Study. American Journal of Public Health Research. 2015; 3(5A):64-66. doi: 10.12691/AJPHR-3-5A-14

Abstract

There is a substantial lack of data regarding the actual burden of skin diseases in Nepal. Skin diseases often account for a significant number of hospital visits specially in the rural areas of Nepal. 20-30% of the general population is affected by skin disorders at any given time. A hospital based retrospective study reviewed the medical data over a period of one year (June 2014 to May 2015). A total number of 6009 patients presented to the Department of Dermatology which accounted for 6% of the total hospital patients. There was almost equal number of males (51%) & females (49%). Cutaneous infections and dermatitis alone was responsible for more than 50% of the cases (cutaneous infection-34% & dermatitis-20%) whereas pigmentary disorders, including melasma contributed to only 6% of the cases. The occurrence of skin disease did not have significant correlation with socioeconomic class & personal hygiene (p-value>0.05). Conclusively, we need to focus more towards controlling infectious skin diseases.

Keywords

skin diseases, prevalence, Nepal

Copyright

Creative CommonsThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References

[1]  Aboobaker J, Taylor M, Coovadia H. Skin disorders in primary health care in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa. Proceedings of the 21st World Congress of Dermatology; 2007 Sep 30-Oct 5; Buenos Aires, Argentina. Buenos Aires: International League of Dermatological Societes; 2007.
 
[2]  Rea JN, Newhouse ML, Halil T. Skin disease in Lambeth: a community study of prevalence and use of medical care. Br J Prev Soc Med. 1976; 30: 107-14.
 
[3]  Mukherjee PK, Sen PC. Health status of school children in rural West Bengal. J Indian Med Assoc. 1962; 38: 421-426.
 
[4]  Shah PN and Udani PN: Medical examination of school children in Palghartaluka. Ind J Pediat. 1968; 5: 343-361.
 
[5]  Dattabanik ND, Nayar S, Krishna R et al: A study of morbidity pattern, nutritional status and various defects of urban primary school children in Delhi. Ind J Pediat. 1970; 37: 561-564.
 
[6]  Gupta B, Jain TP and Sharma R: Health status of school children in some primary schools of rural Rajasthan. Ind J PrevSoc Med. 1973; 4: 24-30.
 
[7]  Santhanakrishnan BR, Shanmugam D and Chandra-bhushanam A: School health service in Madras city. Ind Pediat. 1974; 11: 421-5.
 
[8]  Sharma NK, Garg BK and GoelM: Pattern of skin diseases in urban school children. Ind J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 1986; 52: 330-331.
 
[9]  Kumar V, Garg BR and Baruah MC: Prevalence of dermatological diseases in school children in a semi-urban area in Pondicherry. Ind J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 1988; 54: 300-302.
 
[10]  Karn D, Khatri R, Timalsina M:Prevalence of Skin Diseases in Kavre District, Nepal. NJDVL. 2010; 9: 7-9.
 
[11]  Shrestha D P, Gurung D, Rosdahl I: Prevalence of skin diseases and impact on quality of life in hilly region of Nepal. Journal of Institute of medicine. 2012; 34: 44-49.
 
[12]  Mehta TK. Pattern of skin diseases in India. Indian J Dermatol Venereol Leprol. 1962; 28: 134-9.
 
[13]  Dogra S, Kumar B. Epidemiology of Skin Diseases in Northern India. Pediatric Dermatology. 2003; 20: 470-473.
 
[14]  Walker SL, Shah M, Hubbard VG, Pradhan HM, Ghimire M.Skin disease is common in rural Nepal: results of a point prevalence study. Br J Dermatol. 2008; 158 (2): 334-8.
 
[15]  Shrestha D P, Gurung D, Rosdahl I.Prevalence of skin diseases and impact on quality of life in hilly region of Nepal. Journal of institute of medicine. 2012; 34: 44-49.
 
[16]  Shrestha R, Kayastha BMM. Pattern of Skin diseases in a rural area of Nepal. Postgraduate Medical Journal of NAMS. 2012; 12: 41-44.