Epidemiological Factors in Patients with Dermatologic Conditions
Referring to Clinic of Traditional Persian Medicine, Shiraz, Southern
Iran during 2018: A Cross- Sectional Study
Abstract
Introduction: Many patients with chronic diseases often use the
traditional medicine approach in addition to conventional medicine. The
aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological factors of
patients with dermatologcal conditions referring to traditional Persian
Medicine (TPM) clinic. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional
study, we reviewed all the patients’ medical documents with
dermatological conditions referred to the TPM clinic at Shiraz, Southern
Iran in 2018. Then, the epidemiological factors of the patients were
recorded to a researcher-made data collection form. SPSS software
version 22 was conducted to data analysis. Results: Overall, 631
patients consist of 151 (23.9%) male individuals and 580 (76.1%)
female individuals were enrolled to the study. Most of the patients were
aged between 31 and 40 years, and 347 (55%) patients were married, and
most of them were housewives. The frequency of patients in spring was
higher than other seasons. Furthermore, the most of the patients were
university educated. Acne, eczema and hair loss were the three most
complaints of the patients referring to the traditional medicine clinic.
301(47.7%) patients reported gastrointestinal problems as another
complaint concomitant with their skin problems. Conclusion: It seems
that women with skin problems, including acne, eczema, and hair loss,
were more likely to refer to the TPM clinic. Therefore, development of
TPM clinics in dermatology field as a scientific and academic approach
can be effective in the treatment of patients with dermatological
condition accompanied by traditional medicine.