title: Prevalence of childhood acne, ephelides, warts, atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, alopecia areata and keloid in Kaohsiung County, Taiwan: a community-based clinical survey.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Epidemiological study on childhood dermatoses performed by direct inspection of dermatologists is limited.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the prevalence of selective childhood dermatoses in Taiwan.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study carried out in June 2004, 4067 of 7851 children aged between 6 and 11 years living in the Kaohsiung County in south Taiwan were clinically surveyed and examined by two board-certified dermatologists (response rate 52%), regarding the point prevalence of acne, ephelides, warts, atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, alopecia areata (AA) and keloid.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Acne vulgaris was found in girls and boys from the age of 6 and 7, respectively, with comedones being the earliest presentation. Ephelides were not infrequently observed in our children (prevalence rate 8.4%, 95% confidence interval, CI 7.9-9.3%). The prevalence of warts on hands was 2.4% (95% CI 1.9-2.9%). The prevalence of AD was 1.7% (95% CI 1.3-2.1%), without gender difference. There were only four cases of AA but no psoriasis was found. Keloid was identified in 13 boys and 10 girls, accounting for 0.6% (95% CI 0.598-0.602%) of the children.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Acne vulgaris is as common in Taiwan as in Western countries. Ephelides are not uncommon in our population with the main skin types III-IV. A clustered distribution of the wart infection was noted. The low prevalence of AD in Taiwan seems unaltered over the past decade. AA and psoriasis are rare in our series. Most keloids in our children are caused by BCG vaccination.
authors: Department of Dermatology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital-Kaohsiung Medical Center, Chang Gung University, College of Medicine, Taiwan.
authors: Y-C
authors: YC
authors: Yang
authors: Y-W
authors: YW
authors: Cheng
authors: C-S
authors: CS
authors: Lai
authors: W
authors: W
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000453:epidemiology; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007627:Keloid / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008548:Melanosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000453:epidemiology; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology; D014860:Warts / Q000453:epidemiology