Clinical characteristics of scabies: an analysis of 747 cases / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To analyze clinical characteristics of scabies.Methods:The clinical data of 747 patients with scabies who visited Department of Dermatology, Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical College from January 2018 to December 2019 were retrospectively analyzed.Results:There were more males (73.09%, 546/747) than females (26.91%, 201/747); most of patients had a age of 13-24 year (55.96%, 418/747); students account for 50.33% (376/747) of all patients; there were more patients living in dormitory than those living at home (61.45% (459/747) vs. 38.55% (288/747)). The cases began to rise from October, reaching the peak in December and remaining at relatively high level in January and February, then decreasing to the lowest during March to September. The number of patients living in rural areas is higher than that in urban areas. Patients took average 30 (15, 90) days from onset of disease to seeing a doctor, and itching was the main complain for visiting. The locations of lesion were most common on the abdomen (63.19%, 472/747), fingertips and wrists (53.41%, 399/747), vulva (37.22%, 278/747), and extremities (30.25%, 226/747). The lesions were characterized by erythematous papules (71.62%, 535/747), nodules (47.12%, 352/747), papules (24.50%, 183/747), wheals (6.02%, 45/747), secondary infections (3.61%, 27/747), tunnels (3.08%, 23/747) and small pustules (2.14%, 16/747); the male scrotal nodules were common (48.17%, 263/546). More patients (471/747, 63.05%) first visited non-dermatology outpatient clinics, and less first visited dermatology outpatient clinics (276/747, 36.95%); the misdiagnosis rates were 55.41% (261/471) and 27.54% (76/276), respectively; 127 cases (17.00%) were misdiagnosed as eczema, 54 cases (7.23%) as allergic dermatitis, 41 cases (5.49%) as prurigo nodularis, and 35 cases (4.69%) as urticaria pulosa. Conclusions:There is a certain discrepancy in the incidence of scabies among different populations, regions and seasons, the lesions of scabies are polymorphic involving different parts of the body surface and it is easy to be misdiagnosed.