Seborrhoeic dermatitis in the elderly: inferences on the possible role of disability and loss of self-sufficiency

Abstract

The constant increase of life expectancy in countries with high standards of living raises growing concern about many aspects of skin morbidity in the elderly. As regards seborrhoeic dermatitis, literature yields prevalence estimates for elderly people that are consistently higher than those reported from the general population. This prompts speculations on whether factors inherently involved in senescence might have some role in the course of seborrhoeic dermatitis. In a series of 186 subjects, aged > or =65, strength of association of the skin disorder with age, sex, coexisting non-cutaneous conditions, and degree of loss of self-sufficiency in activities of daily living (ADL index) was evaluated by univariate and multivariate analysis. We found that age (OR: 1.14 p<0.001) and, more importantly, dependency in more than one ADL (OR: 30.2 p<0.0001) were independent explanatory variables of seborrhoeic dermatitis. These findings suggest that senescence per se might have some significance in the natural history of this type of eczema.