ABSTRACT

Aim:

With the increasing growth of the elderly population in Turkey, there has also been an increase in age -related skin changes and diseases. The purpose of this study was to identify skin diseases in the elderly population in our region and to determine their prevalence.

Materials and Methods:

The records of 1110 patients aged over 65 and presenting to the Yozgat University Faculty of Medicine Dermatology Clinic between October 2010 and May 2014 were examined retrospectively in terms of age, gender, dermatological examination and diagnostic data.

Results:

Five hundred thirty (47.7%) of the patients included in the study were women and 580 (52.3%) were men. Mean age was 72.3±6.2. Skin diseases identified were examined under 11 groups. In order of prevalence, these were 31.9% infectious dermatoses, 14.1% inflammato-ry skin diseases, 12.7% pruritus, 9.4% skin tumors. 9.3% other skin diseases, 9% xerosis, 6.8% immunological skin diseases, 3.2% epidermal thickening, 1.4% vascular changes, 1.3% cutane-ous adnexal diseases and 1.1% UV-related dermatoses.

Conclusion:

Our study, performed due to the absence of any previous similar research in the region, provides information about skin diseases seen in the geriatric age group in the prov-ince of Yozgat. Dermatological problems and the prevalences thereof in geriatric patients vary in studies from different provinces of Turkey. We think that further prospective, multi-center studies performed in the same time period are needed in order to accurately identify dermato-logical problems seen in the geriatric age group in Turkey, and for appropriate measures to be taken.