The prevalence of skin diseases in any community depends upon various factors, namely the genetic and racial constitution, the social and hygienic standards, customs and occupations, the nutritional status and age structure of the community, climatic factors, state of industrialization, etc. In addition, the diagnostic competence of doctors, special interest and expertise of dermatologists, the availability of expert diagnostic facilities and new methods of therapy contribute to the higher incidence of certain skin diseases in a particular country or community. 1The literature concerning the patterns of both general and specific skin diseases is rather scanty, and only a few published reports are available from the Kingdom. Though community-based studies are the best to determine the incidence of a particular disease, they are difficult to carry out. As such, most of the studies to determine the incidence or prevalence of the dermatological diseases are based upon hospital attendance. The present study, aimed at analyzing the pattern of various dermatoses, was carried out over a two-year period from July 1995 to June 1997 at the Dermatology Unit of King Khalid Hospital (KKH), Hail, and was based on the hospital attendance of the patients. Patients and MethodsA register of all the new patients seen by the Specialists in the Dermatology Unit of KKH over the two-year period was maintained, and the age, sex, nationality and the diagnosis of each patient recorded. Clinical diagnoses made by the dermatologists were corroborated with skin biopsies and other laboratory reports wherever necessary, and the diseases were classified into different groups in accordance with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9, 1975). The data thus obtained from the records was compared with studies from other parts of the world and from other regions of Saudi Arabia.