Prevalence and risk factors for skin diseases among Philippine national police personnels in camp crame, Quezon city, Philippines

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Abigael T Villanueva Daniel

PNP General Hospital, Philippines

: J Clin Exp Dermatol Res

Abstract

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Background: Philippine National Police (PNP), as the premier law enforcing agency is at the forefront in ensuring internal peace and order in the country. For the first time in the country, a baseline study on the prevalence and risk factors for common skin diseases among Philippine National Police personnel was conducted on the National Headquarters of the PNP from March 1 to August 31, 2016. Objectives of the study: This pioneering study sought to determine the prevalence and specific types of skin diseases and their associated risk factors among police officers in Camp Crame, Quezon City, Philippines. Materials and Methods: Using a cross-sectional analytic study design, data were obtained from 384 randomly selected participants through self-administered questionnaires and skin examination performed by qualified dermatologists. Results: Out of the 384 uniformed PNP personnel who participated in this study, 307 were found to have at least one skin disease thus resulting to skin disease prevalence of 80%. Among the general types of skin disease, dermatitis and eczemas ranked first with an estimated prevalence of 29.7% followed by pigmentary disorder (19.0%) and disorder of the skin appendage (17.2%). Among the specific types of skin disease, the most prevalent are melasma, acne and verruca plana (17.4%, 14.6% and 8.9%, respectively). Conclusion: Cutaneous diseases in police troops have been recognized as a significant cause of morbidity. In our study, eczemas, acne, fungal infection and verruca showed highly in prevalence in the police force. These diseases are not life threatening and incapacitating, however they may severely affect the daily activities and performance of the police troops. The knowledge of the spectrum of dermatologic diseases in police troops serves as an important planning guidance in the appropriate medical diagnosis management of skin diseases. Out of the 384 police officers included in this study, 307 were found to have at least one skin disease resulting to an overall skin disease prevalence of 80%.v Among 307, 223 participants (58%) had only non-communicable skin disease findings, 52 participants (14%) had only communicable skin disease findings and 32 participants (10%) had both non-communicable and communicable skin disease findings.

Biography

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Abigael T Villanueva Daniel is a Diplomate and Fellow of Philippine Dermatological Society and an Associate Member of International Society of Dermatology. He is currently the Chief, Department of Dermatology at the Philippine National Police General Hospital at Camp Crame, Quezon City, Philippines and a visiting consultant at the Cardinal Santos Medical Center, Health Cubes Medical Clinics- Greenhills and MDC Dermatology Clinic.She obtained her degree of Doctor of Medicine at University of Sto. Tomas, completed Master of Science in Health Services Administration at Holy Angel University and finished Three years of Residency Training in Dermatology at Research Institute for Tropical Medicine.