Abstract

Skin allergy is a type of allergy that results in skin lesions due to reactions that occur in the immune system when the body is exposed to allergens. There are several types of skin allergies which include atopic dermatitis, contact dermatitis, urticaria, angioedema and hay fever. However, there is little known about skin allergy in Namibia as no studies have ever been done on this condition among adolescents in the country. The aim of this study was to determine the most prevalent skin allergy, find out the most common causes of skin allergies as understood by participants and confirmation by clinicians, and assess the impact of socio-demographic factors on prevalence in skin allergies in adolescents in Namibia. The study was cross sectional with sample size of 150 participants aged 15-30 years who were selected using simple random sampling technique. The questionnaires were administered to the randomly selected young patients that attended the dermatology clinic at Windhoek Central Hospital between July and September 2014. All descriptive and inferential analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel, SPSS 22, and Stata 12. The most prevalent skin allergy was the atopic dermatitis (43.4%) seconded by contact dermatitis (31.3%). It was observed that the type of occupation and exposure to possible causes significantly affected the prevalence of skin allergies in adolescents in Namibia. It was also observed, though not significant at 5% level, that the age-specific prevalence in skin allergies tended to increase with age. Furthermore, ethnicity and gender did not reveal any significant effects on skin allergies. Skin allergy is becoming a significant public health burden in adolescents in Namibia. It was found that atopic dermatitis and contact dermatitis were the most prevalent skin allergies in adolescents in Namibia. Furthermore, it was observed that occupation and weather change significantly affected the prevalence of skin allergies in adolescents in Namibia.

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