Materials and Method: Descriptive statistics were computed for means, standard deviations and frequencies. The chi-square test or Fisher's exact test was used for statistical analysis, with a significance threshold of p<0.05.
Results: A total of 1255 consecutive patients [males, 623; females, 632; mean age, 87.65±2.97 years (range, 85–113 years)] were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Pruritus/pruritic dermatoses was the most frequently recorded dermatological disease group (26.8%, n=383), and xerosis/asteatotic dermatitis was the most frequent disease (14.5%, n=208). There was no statistically significant relationship between age and type of dermatological disease. There was also no statistically significant relationship between sex and type of dermatological disease, except for dermatoses resulting from physical factors, which were found to occur more frequently in males (61.1% vs. 38.9%, p=0.034).
Conclusion: The world is ageing and several age-related diseases are on the rise. Not only ageing populations but also healthcare professionals have to face new challenges of longevity. Further studies such as the present investigation are required to determine the epidemiology of dermatological diseases in the elderly and the oldest old.
Keywords : Frail Elderly; Skin Diseases/Epidemiology; Skin Diseases, Bacterial/Epidemiology; Skin Diseases, Viral/Epidemiology