title: Prevalence of skin disorders among primary school children in Diyarbakir, Turkey.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of childhood dermatoses in Diyarbakir, which is located in the southeastern region of Turkey.
  
  
  
  This cross-sectional study was carried out in April 2008 among students of eight randomly selected public primary schools in Diyarbakir. Students were examined and questionnaire was applied to determine socioeconomic levels and socio-demographic features.
  
  
  
  A total of 1932 students were examined by dermatologists. Nine hundred and fifty three (49.32%) girls, mean age was 11.06±2.13 (range 6-17). The overall point prevalence of skin disorders was 59.1%. Among this sample 776 children (40.2%) had only one skin disease whereas 299 (15.5%) had two and 67 (3.5%) had at least three. The point prevalence of skin disorders was 33.1% among students in grade 1 and 78.9% among students in grade 8 (p<0.05). The most common skin disease was eczema (32.8%), followed by pigmentation disorders (17.2%), skin infections (13.4%), scalp disorders (10.1%) and acne vulgaris (9.6%). Infectious skin problems, pigmentation disorders, hair and scalp disorders and acne vulgaris were more common among girls compared to boys (p<0.05). In addition, infectious skin problems were more common among boarders (p<0.05) compared to day students.
  
  
  
  Skin disorders affected 59.1% of the studied children. Skin disorders were more common among girls and boarders in this study, this group of children should be given specific attention in formulating preventive measures.
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Bilal
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Sula
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Derya
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Uçmak
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity, Diyarbakir, Turquía.
authors.forename: Günay
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Saka
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Sedat
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Akdeniz
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Engin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Yavuz
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Yunus
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yakut
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity, Diyarbakir, Turquía.
authors.forename: Evrim
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Arslan
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Hamza
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Aktaş
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Salud Pública, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity, Diyarbakir, Turquía.
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Yıldız
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Sibel
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yolbir
authors.affiliation: Departamerto de Dermatología, Facultad de Medicina, Dicle Urtíversity.
authors.forename: Ruken
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Azizoğlu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D012574:Schools; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014421:Turkey / Q000453:epidemiology