To determine the overall prevalence of skin diseases a whole-body skin examination was performed for 1,932 members (46-years of age) of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort (NFBC 1966), which is a comprehensive longitudinal research program (N = 12,058). A high prevalence of all skin diseases needing treatment was found (N = 1,158). Half of the cases of skin findings were evaluated to be serious enough to require diagnostic evaluation, treatment or follow-up either in a general health care, occupational health care or a secondary care setting. The remaining half were thought to be slight and self-treatment was advised. Males (70%) had more skin diseases needing treatment than females (52%) (P<0.001). The most common skin finding was a benign skin tumor, which was found in every cohort member. Skin infections (44%), eczemas (27%) and sebaceous gland diseases (27%) were the most common skin diseases in the cohort. Moreover, skin infections and eczemas were more commonly seen in the group with low education compared to those with high education (P<0.005). The results strengthen the postulate that skin diseases are common in an adult population.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: To determine the prevalence of skin findings and skin diseases in adults aged 70 and older, and to study the association between cutaneous diseases and socioeconomic status (SES), sex, and living status in the older population. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of Finnish adults aged 70 to 93 as part of the Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 Study. SETTINGS: Skin examination data were available for 552 adults. MEASUREMENTS: A whole-body skin examination was performed by dermatologists. The associations between skin diseases and SES, sex, and living status were analyzed. RESULTS: Nearly 80% of the adults had at least one skin disease that required further treatment or follow-up. More than one-third of the study cases (39.1%) had three or more simultaneous skin diseases. Skin diseases were more common in men than in women (P < .001). The most common skin diseases were tinea pedis (48.6%), onychomycosis (29.9%), rosacea (25.6%), actinic keratosis (22.3%), and asteatotic eczema (20.8%). Some association was found between skin diseases and SES and living status. CONCLUSION: A whole-body clinical skin examination is important because it reveals important diagnoses.

Low grade inflammation is associated with many noncommunicable diseases. The association between skin diseases in general and systemic inflammation has not previously been studied at the population level. A whole-body investigation on 1,930 adults belonging to Northern Finland Birth Cohort 1966 was performed and high sensitive C-reactive protein (CRP) level was measured as a marker of low grade inflammation in order to determine the association between low grade inflammation and skin diseases in an unselected adult population. After adjustment for confounding factors the following skin disorders were associated with low grade inflammation in multinomial logistic regression analysis: atopic eczema (OR 2.2, 95% CI 1.2-3.9), onychomycosis (OR 2.0, 1.2-3.2) and rosacea (OR 1.7, 1.1-2.5). After additionally adjusting for body mass index and systemic diseases, the risks for atopic eczema (OR 2.4, 1.3-4.6) and onychomycosis (OR 1.9, 1.1-3.1) remained statistically significant. In conclusion, low grade inflammation is present in several skin diseases.