Prevalence of dermatoporosis in elderly French hospital in-patients: a cross-sectional study

Funding sources: This work was supported by Pierre Fabre Group. Conflicts of interest: V.M., G.J. and A.M.S. are employed by Pierre Fabre Dermo Cosmetique. Madam, The term dermatoporosis has recently been proposed to describe the clinical signs and functional consequences of age‐related extreme skin fragility. Dr Kaya and Prof. Saurat1 coined this term by analogy with osteoporosis to designate skin failure and described four stages: I, extreme skin thinning, purpura and pseudoscars; II, skin lacerations resulting from minor traumas, in addition to the previous signs; III, larger and more numerous skin lacerations and delayed wound healing; and IV, advanced lesions with subcutaneous bleeding, leading to dissecting haematomas and, potentially, skin necrosis. However, the prevalence of dermatoporosis has not previously been evaluated. We report here the results of a cross‐sectional, observational study evaluating the prevalence of dermatoporosis in 202 patients aged 60 years and older, hospitalized in the Department of Geriatrics of Toulouse University Hospital. Clinical examinations of the skin on the forearms, hands or legs, including skin phototype determination2 and dermatoporosis staging,1 were performed by a single dermatologist.