Riffat Naseem, Safoora Aamir, Qazi Tufail.
Dermatological Disorders being Overlooked among patients admitted in medical wards and allied in Sheikh Zayed Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
Pak J Med Health Sci Jan ;8(3):640-3.

Background: Dermatological diseases are overlooked by most clinicians despite being common in clinical practice. Many hospitalized patients have co-existing dermatological conditions which may not be detected and managed by the concerned doctors. Aim: To determine the extent of overlooked dermatological disorders among patients admitted to the medical wards and allied in Sheikh Zayed Hospital Lahore. Methods: 141 Patients were simultaneously recruited from all medical wards and allied. After introduction patients were interviewed about any dermatological problem followed by a complete physical examination. Dermatological diagnoses were made mainly clinically and labs were performed where necessary. Proforma and SPSS were used to collect and calculate results. Results: One hundred and forty one patients admitted to medical wards and allied were enrolled into the study of whom, 68(48.22%) were females. The mean age was 51.49 (range 13-93 years). Overall, 107/141 patients (75%) had co-existing dermatological disorders with 28.36 % (40/141) having one, 25.53% (36/141) two and 9 patients (6.38%) with three and 5 patient (3.54%) having four. A wide range of co -existing skin diseases was encountered, the mostly non-infectious conditions which together accounted for 56.73% (80/141) while infectious dermatoses accounted for 19.14% (27/141). The leading infectious skin diseases were superficial fungal infections accounting for 14.89% (21/141). Generalized pruritus, ecchymosis and bruises at injection sites and xerosis were the most common non-infectious conditions, each accounting for 31.91, 28.36, 14.18% respectively. Conclusion: Dermatological disorders are common among admitted patients and many are not detected by their referring or admitting physicians at admission or during admission. Basic dermatological education should be emphasized to improve knowledge and awareness among clinicians and nursing care should be improved.

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