Prevalence of hair disorders and their related factors among adolescent students in public boarding school, west java, indonesia

Objective: Hair disorders in children and teenagers are abnormalities that often appear and can cause complex clinical problems. It can be congenital or acquired from the environment. The aim was to observe the prevalence of hair disorders and their related factors in specific population, also to recognize their dermoscopic description. Study Design: Descriptive cross-sectional study Place and Duration of Study: The research was conducted from September 2018 to February 2019 in one public boarding school (PBS), West Java. Material and Methods: Participants were 127 students consisting of 85 boys and 42 girls, with age ranging from 11-15 years. Diagnosis was determined by history taking, physical and dermoscopic examination. Results: The most common hair disorder was pediculosis capitis, identified in 86 students (67.7%). All girl subjects were diagnosed with it, while in boy group there were 44 out of 85 students. When the pediculosis capitis group was compared with no hair disease group, the statistically significant factors were gender, frequency of washing towel and habit of using towel. Other kind of hair disorders discovered were scarring alopecia (3.2%), seborrheic dermatitis (0.8%), and nevus sebaceous (0.8%). Conclusion: Very high prevalence of pediculosis capitis in this PBS is influenced by high occupancy in one bedroom, also poor hygiene, such as longer frequency of changing towel, and habit of sharing prayer dresses. These results should be an important note for public health officer to raise awareness about this case.