Pattern of skin diseases at the University Teaching Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Background and objective Skin diseases are among the leading causes of hospital visits in Ethiopia. An analysis was performed to describe the pattern of skin diseases at a teaching hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Patients and methods All consecutive new patients seen at the dermatologic referral clinic of Black Lion Teaching Hospital (BLH) from June 1995 to July 1997 were included in this prospective analysis. The clinical examinations were performed by the author, so that uniformity of diagnosis and classification is assured. Results A total of 1505 patients were assessed; 1093 (72.6%) were in the age group 21-40 years, and the female to male ratio was 1.2 to 1. The most common skin diseases were allergic skin diseases (25.5%), infections (25.4%), the photodermatoses (22.9%), followed by papulosquamous diseases (11.4%) and pruritis of unknown origin (3.3%). Skin manifestations of collagen diseases were less common findings (0.7%). Conclusions The pattern of skin diseases observed in this analysis shows that allergic and infectious causes account for three-quarters of skin problems. Emphasis should be given to this group of common skin diseases at all levels of health care so that proper diagnosis, treatment, and referral can be practiced.