Volume 26, Issue 125, July 2022

Epidemiology of Urticaria among Adults in Saudi Arabia – Survey based results

Fawwaz F Alshammarie^1♦, Solaiman I Alamer², Sami I Alzabni², Khalid H Almuzaini², Wael S Alanazi³

¹Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia
²4th year medical student, College of Medicine, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia
³Medical Intern, College of Medicine, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Assistant Professor, Department of Dermatology, College of Medicine, University of Hail, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Urticaria is considered a common skin disease that is characterized by red, itchy wheals. It can be associated with angioedema which is deeper swelling of the mucous membrane and skin. It divided into acute and chronic urticaria. In general, urticaria is prevalent throughout life is approximately 20%. It is more common in males than females. Objective: To describe the pattern of urticaria and angioedema among adults in Saudi Arabia, especially in Hail region. Methodology: In this cross-sectional study, a questionnaire was administered to adults in Saudi Arabia, especially in Hail region from November 2021 to March 2022. Results: Up to 838 participants fulfilling the inclusion criteria completed the study questionnaire. A total of 166 (19.8%) of the participants experienced any of the urticaria clinical presentations while 672 (80.2%) never experienced any. Urticaria experience was significantly more reported among 25.3% of female participants compared to 14.9% of males. 33 (19.9%) patients with history of urticaria complained of angioedema. The most reported triggers/risk factors of initiating urticaria symptoms were skin itching (68%), followed by spontaneously or no reason (57%). Conclusion: Overall, in this study we found that the urticaria was more frequent in the females than in the males. About two thirds of the patients had urticaria symptoms only once, and less than three-quarters experience the symptoms monthly.

Keywords: acute urticaria, angioedema, epidemiology of urticaria, chronic urticaria

Medical Science, 2022, 26, ms305e2327

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.54905/disssi/v26i125/ms305e2327

Published: 26 July 2022