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Study Estimates Global Prevalence of Seborrheic Dermatitis

Publish date: July 17, 2024

TOPLINE:

Seborrheic dermatitis affects an estimated 4% of the global population, with significant variations across age groups, settings, and regions, according to a meta-analysis that also found a higher prevalence in adults than in children.

METHODOLOGY:

Researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 121 studies, which included 1,260,163 people with clinician-diagnosed seborrheic dermatitis.
The included studies represented nine countries; most were from India (n = 18), Turkey (n = 13), and the United States (n = 8).
The primary outcome was the pooled prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis.

TAKEAWAY:

The overall pooled prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis was 4.38%, 4.08% in clinical settings, and 4.71% in the studies conducted in the general population.
The prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis was higher among adults (5.64%) than in children (3.7%) and neonates (0.23%).
A significant variation was observed across countries, with South Africa having the highest prevalence at 8.82%, followed by the United States at 5.86% and Turkey at 3.74%, while India had the lowest prevalence at 2.62%.

IN PRACTICE:

The global prevalence in this meta-analysis was “higher than previous large-scale global estimates, with notable geographic and sociodemographic variability, highlighting the potential impact of environmental factors and cultural practices,” the authors wrote.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Meredith Tyree Polaskey, MS, Chicago Medical School, Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, Illinois, and was published online on July 3, 2024, in the JAMA Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

Interpretation of the findings is limited by research gaps in Central Asia, much of Sub-Saharan Africa, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Latin America (excluding Brazil), and the Caribbean, along with potential underreporting in regions with restricted healthcare access and significant heterogeneity across studies.

DISCLOSURES:

Funding information was not available. One author reported serving as an advisor, consultant, speaker, and/or investigator for multiple pharmaceutical companies, including AbbVie, Amgen, and Pfizer.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication. A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.