A clinical prevalence of dermatophytic mycoses with an assessment of its clinical manifestations in a tertiary care hospital at Salem, South India

Abstract

AbstractBackgroundDermatophytosis is very common among all age groups throughout the world. The incidence of the same is increasing on a steady basis.AimEstimating the clinical prevalence of dermatophytes mycoses among the patients visiting the outpatient unit and assessing its distinct manifestations.MethodologyA prospective observational study was conducted with the patients attending the Skin and STD outpatient unit of a tertiary care teaching hospital in Salem. A total of 3068 outpatients attended the department, of which 420 patients were diagnosed with dermatophytic mycoses and were taken for investigating the prevalence.ResultsA total of 420 dermatophytosis patients were included giving a percentage prevalence of 13.69%. There were more female patients (n = 213, 50.71%) than males (n = 207, 49.29%). The most common afflicted age group was 31–40 years (n = 99, 50.71%). Most of the patients had an atypical lesion called tinea incognita (n = 265, 63.09%) where there was no typical classic appearance of dermatophytic infections. The most prevalent clinical manifestation was tinea corporis (n = 73, 17.38%) followed by tinea cruris (n = 69, 16.43%). There were more newly diagnosed dermatophytosis cases (n = 326) than the previously diagnosed cases (n = 94).ConclusionThis study concludes that dermatophytic mycoses were more prevalent among females than males and among the age groups of 31–40 years. The most common clinical presentation was tinea incognita followed by tinea corporis.