Prevalence and cutaneous comorbidities of hidradenitis suppurativa in the German working population

The association of hidradenitis suppurativa with other skin diseases has not yet been investigated in larger studies based on dermatological exams. The objectives of this study are to determine the prevalence and cutaneous comorbidities of hidradenitis suppurativa in the German working population. Between 2014 and 2017, 20,112 people in 343 German companies were examined for the presence of clinical features of hidradenitis suppurativa within the framework of a cross-sectional epidemiological study based on whole-body examinations. In addition, all cutaneous comorbidities were recorded. Point prevalence was calculated and the differences between individuals with and without hidradenitis suppurativa were determined by bivariate analysis. All statistical procedures were performed using SPSS 23.0 for Windows. Of 20,112 people examined, mean age was 43.6 ± 10.5 years; 52.3% were male. In total, n = 57 people (0.3%) with hidradenitis suppurativa were identified; 61.4% (n = 35) being male. In addition, non-inflammatory hidradenitis suppurativa-related lesions were found in 674 other individuals. In a bivariate comparison, patients with hidradenitis suppurativa showed significantly more frequently the following cutaneous comorbidities: acne vulgaris, psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis, excoriations, and folliculitis. We determined a point prevalence of hidradenitis suppurativa of 0.3%. Since we have examined the working population, the healthy worker effect, which could have led to underestimation of prevalence, cannot be ruled out. The point prevalence of 0.3% for employed people in Germany and a prevalence of 3.0% for inflammatory and non-inflammatory hidradenitis suppurativa-related lesions show that hidradenitis suppurativa is an important disease for the whole health system.