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Burden of skin disease in two remote primary healthcare centres in northern and central Australia
Author(s) -
Thomas Lauren,
Bowen Asha C.,
Ly Marleesa,
Connors Christine,
Andrews Ross,
Tong Steven Y. C.
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
internal medicine journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.596
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1445-5994
pISSN - 1444-0903
DOI - 10.1111/imj.14222
Subject(s) - medicine , indigenous , audit , presentation (obstetrics) , public health , disease , health care , primary health care , primary care , disease burden , family medicine , retrospective cohort study , environmental health , nursing , pathology , surgery , population , ecology , management , economics , biology , economic growth
The burden of skin infections across all age groups in remote Australian Indigenous communities is currently unknown. In a retrospective audit of 439 residents from two remote communities presenting to health clinics, skin conditions were the most common reason for presentation (1603/7392, 22%) and 330/439 (75%) residents presented at least once with a skin infection. Skin infections are an under‐appreciated and dominant reason for presentation to primary healthcare centres in these indigenous communities and public health campaigns to address this should incorporate all age groups.