Frequency of skin diseases among patients attending a diabetic clinic

Skin diseases are common among diabetic patients. Although data on the prevalence of skin diseases in the community is available, little is known of the frequency of skin diseases in Sri Lankan diabetic patients. Therefore, we carried out a study to determine the prevalence of skin diseases in diabetic patients.

Our study was carried out on 300 patients attending the diabetic clinic at the Colombo South Teaching Hospital and they were examined for the presence of skin diseases. The frequency of skin diseases in the diabetic population was compared to that of the community, and the odds ratio was calculated.

Skin infections were common among diabetic patients, especially fungal (48.67%) and bacterial infections (11.67%). Diabetic skin manifestations such as diabetic dermopathy (7%), scleroderma-like syndrome (13.33%), and acanthosis nigricans (18.33%) was also common. Vitiligo, which is usually seen among IDDM patients, was mainly seen in NIIDM patients in our study.

We conclude that there is a high frequency of skin diseases among diabetic patients, which could be prevented by proper education and glycaemic control.