Epidemiology of skin disease among children in a referral skin clinic in Singapore.

This retrospective epidemiologic study compared data of skin disease in children less than 16 years old with those of adults attending the same tertiary referral outpatient clinic. Of the 74,589 patients seen in this clinic, 9273 (12.4%) were children. There were significant differences in the types of skin disease between children and adults. In children, eczema was the most common (50%), followed by viral infection (7%), bacterial infection (5%), and insect bite reaction (5%), significantly higher proportions than in adults. In contrast, acne vulgaris (3%), fungal infection (3%), and psoriasis (1.1%) rates were significantly lower in children than in adults. Atopic eczema (51%), followed by endogenous handfoot eczema (9.6%) was the most common type of eczema in children. The number of children with atopic (including asteatotic eczema) and seborrhoeic eczema decreased with age, suggesting that these conditions tend to clear with age, whereas other endogenous eczemas, including hand-foot eczema, nummular eczema, and lichen simplex chronicus, tend to increase with age. Epidemiologic data are useful in monitoring changes in disease trends in children and planning health care programs for them.