ABSTRACT
Cases referred to a tertiary hospital tend to be more difficult to manage. Therefore, the demographic pattern may differ and changes with time. To determine the prevalence and changing trend of skin diseases according to age, gender and ethnicity in Hospital Kuala Lumpur. Methods: This retrospective, cross sectional study was conducted in the Department of Dermatology, Hospital Kuala Lumpur from 1st January 2008 to 31st December 2014. Results: The top five skin diseases in descending order of frequency were eczema, infection, acne and acneiform disorders, psoriasis and urticaria/angioedema. Eczema is now the most common skin disease as compared to an earlier study from 1995 to 1999 where infection was the most common. A total of 58,252 clinic attendees consist of Malays (61.0%), followed by Indians (20.1%) and Chinese (18.9%). Out of these, 51.6% were females and 48.4% were males. Majority of patients were 20-29 years old (n = 11546, 24.6%) followed by 30-39 (n= 6621, 14.1%) and 10-19 years old (n= 6335, 13.5%). Conclusion: As eczema is now the most common skin disease encountered, the management of each patient need to be tailored according to the different type of eczema. Training for eczema and other skin diseases can be provided by primary care health providers as treatment for these cases are available at primary care level.