FREQUENCY AND PATTERN OF SKIN DISEASES AMONG UNIFORMED PERSONNEL AT UNITED NATIONS LEVEL III HOSPITAL-DARFUR, SUDAN

Skin Diseases in UN Mission Corps

Abstract

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the frequency and pattern of skin diseases among uniformed personnel at a United Nations peace-keeping mission Level III hospital at Darfur, Sudan.
Design: A descriptive study
Place and Duration of Study: This study was conducted at dermatology outpatient department of United Nations peace keeping mission (UNAMID) level III Hospital at Darfur, Sudan from Jan 2010-Jan 2011.
Patients and Methods: All soldiers/policemen of either gender reporting to dermatology department of the hospital for the first time during the study period were registered after informed consent. A specially designed proforma was filled for each patient separately. In addition to date of reporting, demographic profile and disease information were noted. The data was managed and analyzed using SPSS-14.
Results: There were a total of 438 uniformed personnel of the age ranging from 20-52 years (mean of 34.30 ± 6.43). Eczema in various forms was the most common disease (21.9%), followed by fungal infections (10%) and melasma (08.9%). One hundred and seventy five (40.0%) patients had the disease 02 months to >30 years before their deployment, whereas 263 (60%) developed the disease 03 days to 01 year after deployment.
Conclusion: Eczema, fungal infections and melasma were the commonest skin problems among uniformed personnel. Forty percent of these had dermatological problems before deployment.