Seasonal variation of pediatric dermatoses: a retrospective study conducted in tertiary care centre Ujjain

Background: Skin diseases in pediatric age are common health problem with wide variation in the presentation in various regions. Association of seasonal variation in skin disease has been studied for centuries. Environmental factors plays significant role in skin disease. Different climatic factors that may decide the incidence of skin diseases. Cold, warmth, light and humidity play direct or indirect role in occurrence of various dermatosis. Many studies have been done to study pattern of skin disease in pediatric population but only few studies are done for its clinical correlation of seasonal variation. Hence we decided to study seasonal variation in pediatric dermatoses. The objective of the study was to study the seasonal variation, age-wise variation and distribution of common dermatoses in pediatric population in 0-15 years. Methods: This was a retrospective study done in R.D. Gardi Medical College, Ujjain over a period of one year. A total of 1110 cases of age 0-15 years, who presented in out-patient clinic of dermatology deparment were included in this study. Demographic profile and clinical details were recorded. Data were collected and patient’s details were categorized according to four seasons summer, autumn, winter and spring. Microsoft excel was used for data entry and analysis was done using SPSS version 22. Results: Out of all the subjects recruited, 55.7% were males and 44.3% were females with M:F ratio1.25:1. The maximum numbers of patients were in the age group of 10-15 years (43.3%). Majority of visits were in summer (n=360, 32.43%) followed by winter and spring season. Most common dermatosis seen during summer was bacterial infection (n=93, 8.37%) and during winter was eczema (n=62, 5.58%). Conclusions: Dermatoses in children are wide spread problem responsible for significant morbidity in them. In the present study there is seasonal variation of dermatological diseases in pediatric age group.