Introduction
Dermatoogy conditions are one of the most common human diseases, which
affect 30%- 70% of people regardless with individual cultures and ages
The International Classification of Diseases lists over 1,000
dermatologic or skin-related diseases in 10 categories. Internationally,
skin diseases are the fourth leading cause of non-fatal diseases.
Despite this abundance, skin diseases continue to receive less attention
in national and global health debates (1).
Patients with dermatologic problems often experience emotional problems,
such a way that the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among
dermatologic patients was reported between 30% and 60%
(2-4). Chronic skin diseases are
considered as long-standing diseases that has had an increasing rate in
recent years especially in developed countries. But the mortality rate
of dermatology diseases has been decreased because of presenting new
medication and better managent the disease by general physicians and
dermatologists. In this regard, advances in the treatment of chronic
skin diseases have improved the patients’ quality of
life(5) .
Several skin diseases are associated with pain and discomfort, physical
disabilities and psychological disorders
(6, 7). In
some conditions, complications of skin diseases usually remain
permanently or temporarily. Therefore, these complications can affect
the patients’ professional, psychological and physical well-being
(8). On the other hand, there is some
evidence that suggests the quality of life in patients with
dermatological is equal to or worse than the quality of life in patients
with cancer or heart diseases (9).
Tendency to use folklore, complementary and integrative medicine is
prominent among the Iranian population, especially in patients
(10-12). In this regard, many people with
chronic disorders, such as several dermatological conditions, have
resorted to the use of integrative and complementary medicine, natural
and herbal remedies, acupressure, acupuncture, exercise, psychological
and nutritional approaches to control the symptoms of the diseases
(13-15).
To the best of our knowledge, despite the high number of patients with
dermatologic conditions who referred to TPM clinics, the epidemiological
studies were not conducted in these patients in Iranian population. In
this survey, we decided to assess the epidemiological charastristics in
patients with any dermatological conditions referring to TPM clinic
affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Southern
Iran, during 2018.