ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the prevalence of vitiligo in China through a multi-center and larse-population epidemiological survey.Methods A community-based survey was conducted in 6 cities from 6 provinces.Cluster sampling method was used.Subjects were required to fulfill the self-report questionnaires and received physical examination by dermatologists.EpiData and SPSS11.5 were utilized for statistical analysis. Results Totally,19 974 patients participated in this study,and 17 345 valid questionnaires were retrieved with a return rate of 86.84%.Of them,122 were found to have vitiligo.The prevalence and standardized prevalence of vitiligo was 0.70% and 0.56% in all patients,0.95% (75) and 0.69% in male patients and 0.50% (47) and O.45% in female patients.respectively.A significant elevation was observed in the prevalence of vitiligo in males than in females (P<0.01).The prevalence of vitiligo was increased with age and peaked in patients aging from 60 to 69 years and those over 70 years.The age at onset of vitiligo varied from 0 to 19 years in 21.85% of these patients,from 20 to 49 years in 47.05%.The most connnon type was focal vitiligo,which accounted for 36.06%,while the rarest type wag segmental type (2.46%).The pesitivity rate of family history of vitiligo was 9.84% in patients and 1.31% in community population (P<0.01).About 31.97% of the patients complained of negative influence of vitiligo on quality of life.Conclusions The standardized prevalence of vitiligo is 0.56%in 6 provinces from China.Males seem to have a higher prevalence of vifiligo than females.