Prevalence of and risk factors for dermatoporosis: a prospective observational study of dermatology outpatients in a Finnish tertiary care hospital.

BACKGROUND: Dermatoporosis describes the cutaneous signs and complications related to chronic cutaneous fragility related to ageing, chronic sun exposure and long-term use of topical and systemic corticosteroids. Chronic renal failure may be an additional cofactor. The prevalence of dermatoporosis is estimated around 32-37% in France among the elderly.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the prevalence of dermatoporosis and its risk factors in outpatients who attended a consultation in the department of dermatology of Helsinki University Central Hospital.

METHODS: A prospective observational study of 176 consecutive outpatients aged 60 years and older, who attended a consultation in the department of dermatology of Helsinki University Central Hospital. Data collection included age, gender, reason for consultation, local or systemic corticosteroid therapy, antiplatelet drugs and anticoagulant therapy, diabetes and chronic kidney failure (glomerular filtration rate < 60 mL/min/m2 ). The presence of dermatoporosis, location on the body and staging were collected.

RESULTS: 30.7% presented dermatoporosis. Lesions were mainly located on the upper limbs (94%), and stage I was the most frequent (75.9% of the cases). Multivariate analysis revealed that dermatoporosis was significantly associated with ultrapotent topical corticosteroids (odds ratio (OR) 5.34, 95% CI 1.85-15.43, P = 0.002), oral corticosteroids (OR 3.22, 95% CI 1.18-8.80, P = 0.022), concomitant corticosteroid therapy, anticoagulant and chronic renal failure (OR 4.02, 95% CI 1.34-12.01, P = 0.013) and age (OR 1.05, 95% CI 1.01-1.10, P = 0.016). Patients with bullous pemphigoid were those with the highest prevalence of dermatoporosis in our cohort (64%).

CONCLUSION: Acknowledging the selection bias in our study, the prevalence of dermatoporosis in a dermatology consultation in Finland seems as frequent as in France. These results prompt us to weigh the indications of long-term corticosteroids use in frail elderly patients.