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Dermatological practice in Guadeloupe (French West Indies)
Author(s) -
A. Mahé,
E. Mancel
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
clinical and experimental dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.587
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1365-2230
pISSN - 0307-6938
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2230.1999.00500.x
Subject(s) - west indies , medicine , geography , family medicine , history , ethnology
Guadeloupe is a French Caribbean island, with a population of mainly African ancestry, and a high standard of living. We recorded the dermatological diagnoses in 5000 new patients attending dermatologists. The main diagnoses were acne (16.4%), superficial mycoses (12.8%), and eczema (10.5%). Diseases considered to be specific to the tropics were scarce. The main dermatoses attributable to a tropical environment were superficial mycoses, and prurigo. Concerning ethnicity, the majority of Afro‐Caribbeans and resident Caucasians visited dermatologists for the same diseases. The main difference attributable to ethnicity was a high rate of visits by Caucasians for melanocytic naevus and malignant/premalignant neoplasms. Dermatoses restricted to Afro‐Caribbeans were only secondary ailments. The spectrum of diseases registered in our study was similar to that in Northern countries; this probably reflects the influence of the high standard of life in Guadeloupe.