title: Profile of Indian patients with premature canities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Premature canities is a common yet incompletely understood dermatological entity with scarce demographic and clinical data.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  Evaluation of the demographic and clinical profile of cases with premature canities and to look for systemic associations.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifty two self-reported cases of premature canities (onset before 20 years of age) and an equal number of healthy controls were recruited from the outpatient department of the Department of Dermatology, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital Delhi, India from November 2011 to March 2013. A detailed history including onset, duration and pattern of involvement, a family history with pedigree charting and scalp examination were recorded on a predesigned proforma. A history of atopy was looked for in all study subjects and they were screened for thyroid disorder and diabetes.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean age of cases and controls was comparable. The mean age of onset of graying was 11.6 ± 3.6 years. The mean duration at the time of presentation was 39.8 ± 37.2 months. The frontal region was the earliest affected area in 25 (48.1%) cases. Positive family history of premature canities was reported in 39 (75%) cases with an equal prevalence on paternal and maternal sides. More than half of the cases, 29 (55.8%) reported having a first degree relative affected by premature canities, 13 (25%) had a second degree and 20 (38.5%) had a third degree relative affected. Atopy was found to be strongly associated with premature canities with an odds ratio of 3.8. No association with thyroid abnormality or diabetes mellitus was seen.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The study suffered from the limitation of a small sample size.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  It was observed that the process of graying mostly starts in the frontal region. It was also found to be associated with a strong family history and atopic predisposition. Larger studies are recommended to arrive at a definite conclusion.
authors.forename: Deepashree
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Daulatabad
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology and STD, University College of Medical Sciences and GTB Hospital, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.
authors.forename: Archana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Singal
authors.forename: Chander
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: Neelam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chhillar
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006200:Hair Color / Q000502:physiology; D006201:Hair Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D007194:India / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010375:Pedigree; D057566:Self Report; D055815:Young Adult