Global seborrheic dermatitis prevalence greater than previously reported
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Key takeaways:
- A meta-analysis found a global pooled prevalence of 4.38% for seborrheic dermatitis.
- Overall prevalence in adults was greater than in children.
Seborrheic dermatitis is more prevalent across the world than previously believed, with a global pooled prevalence of 4.38%, according to a comprehensive meta-analysis.
“Given that previously reported estimates of seborrheic dermatitis prevalence, especially based on clinician ICD coding, have been numerically lower, these results suggest that we may be formally underdiagnosing this condition in routine practice,” Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, MSCI, clinical associate professor at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School and founder and director of the Center for Medical Dermatology and Immunology Research, told Healio.
A systematic review with meta-analysis of 121 studies, which consisted of 1,260,163 subjects, was conducted to determine the prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis.
The overall pooled prevalence was 4.38% (95% CI, 3.58%-5.17%), whereas the pooled prevalence in a clinical setting was 4.08% (95% CI, 3.17%-5%). For studies based in community settings, a pooled prevalence of 4.71% (95% CI, 2.99%-6.43%) was found.
Overall prevalence in adults was 5.64% (95% CI, 4.01%-7.27%), compared with 3.7% (95% CI, 2.69%-4.8%) in children and 0.23% (95% CI, 0.04%-0.43%) in neonates.
The highest prevalence by country was in South Africa with 8.82% (five studies), followed by the U.S. at 5.86% (eight studies) and Turkey with 3.74% (13 studies). India had the lowest prevalence with 2.62% (18 studies).
According to the meta-analysis, the 2019 Global Burden of Disease study previously suggested a global prevalence of 0.29%. This study found that the pooled prevalence is much greater.
“Recent therapeutic innovation in this space has been highly encouraging, and the major takeaway for health care providers should be to make a concerted effort to diagnose, document and appropriately treat seborrheic dermatitis upon observing its signs and symptoms, knowing that it affects a significant portion of the general population,” Chovatiya said.