[Epidemiology of dermatosis in geriatric patients].

OBJECTIVE

To describe and compare the skin diseases in elderly attended at the geriatric service with those attended at the dermatology service.

METHODS

The study was carried out on 100 elderly patients attended at the geriatrics service of nonskin disease and 100 elderly patients attended at the dermatology service. The sampling was of consecutive cases. Skin phototype and photo-aging were determined. The type and frequency of the dermatosis were described.

RESULTS

All the patients presented at least one dermatosis with an average of five lesions. There was no difference between the main dermatologic causes for consultation in either service. The most frequent phototype was type IV, and when it was correlated with the degree of photo damage measured with the Glogau scale, it was type III. In relation to dermatoses that require treatment we found: actinic keratitis, onychatrophia, xerosis, prurigo and vasculocutaneous complex. The most frequent dermatose found on physical exam were: solar lentigos, seborrheic keratitis, Favre-Racouchot disease, cherry angiomas, guttata hypomelanosis.

CONCLUSIONS

Elderly patients attended at the geriatric and dermatology services presented similar skin diseases.