Retrospective Epidemiology of Dermatomycosis in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, From 2000 to 2023.

Abstract

Background: Although cutaneous mycoses are a global public health problem, very few data are available in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Objectives: This study aimed to describe the retrospective clinical epidemiology of dermatomycosis and their associated risk factors in dermatological consultations in Kinshasa, DRC.

Methods: A retrospective study based on the medical records of patients seen in the departments of dermatology of 2 major hospitals in Kinshasa from March 2000 to August 2023 was carried out. The diagnosis of the various types of dermatomycoses was established based on the dermatologist's clinical examination. Patient demographic and clinical data were collected for study purposes.

Results: Of 27,439 patients consulted at the two sites, 1142 were diagnosed with dermatomycosis (4.16%). Young women aged 27 (17-43) were most affected. Diagnosed patients shared a history of skin mycoses (26%), use of skin-lightening products (19%) and diabetes mellitus (9.6%). Among these patients, 59.3% suffered from dermatophytosis (tinea), 39.1% from malassesiosis and 1.2% from candidal dermatosis. While tinea was predominantly found in children (81.88%, p < 0.001), pruritus and pain in the lesions were preferentially reported by the dermatophytosis patients [65.25% (p < 0.001) and 79.1% (p < 0.001), respectively]. Tinea corporis (45.5%), tinea capitis (20.4%), tinea pedis (19.3%) and onychomycosis (10.2%) were the main nosological entities in the dermatophytosis group, and their distribution on the body surface depended on patients' age (p < 0.001) and sex (p = 0.012).

Conclusions: Dominated by dermatophytosis, dermatomycosis are frequent in dermatological consultations in Kinshasa. While clinical diagnosis remains an important element in the description of dermatomycosis, a better epidemiological understanding would also require biological identification of the fungi involved, which was lacking in this study.