TOPLINE:

In a cross-sectional analysis of approximately 11,000 clinical visits at Mexico-US border camps from 2020 to 2022, dermatologic conditions accounted for 6% of encounters and were most common among children and in the Matamoros camp.

METHODOLOGY:

• Researchers conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 10,894 clinical encounters representing 7864 patients (median age, 29 years) at humanitarian relief clinics in Matamoros and Reynosa camps near the Mexico-US border from January 2020 to November 2022.
• Overall, 786 dermatologic conditions were diagnosed in 656 of 10,894 encounters (6.0%), representing 645 unique patients (60.5% male). Most patients were aged 31-40 years (23.2%); 18.9% were aged 0-5 years, 13.5% were aged 6-10 years, and 6.9% were aged 11-20 years.
• The researchers assessed factors associated with dermatologic diseases.

TAKEAWAY:

• Cutaneous infections were the most commonly diagnosed condition (36.3%), followed by unspecified rash (29.9%) and inflammatory conditions (20.0%).
• Fungal infections accounted for 17.3% of diagnoses, and bacterial abscesses accounted for 6.9%.
• Common inflammatory conditions were dermatitis (16.0%), urticaria (1.7%), and psoriasis (2.3%).
• Children aged 0-5 years (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 1.67; 95% CI, 1.34-2.06) and 6-12 years (AOR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.13-1.76) were more likely than older patients to receive a dermatologic diagnosis, and dermatologic diagnoses were more frequent in the Matamoros camp than the Reynosa camp (AOR, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.11-1.62).

IN PRACTICE:

“Clinicians and public health professionals serving people in distress migration should focus on addressing implications of skin diseases and expanding access to water, sanitation, and hygiene services,” the authors of the study wrote. “Immigration and housing policies should be formulated to curtail displacement and target the structural factors of dermatologic diseases in this population,” they added.

SOURCE:

The study was led by Amir M. Mohareb, MD, Center for Global Health, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, and was published online as a research letter on February 25 in JAMA Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS:

Study limitations include the lack of specialty consultation and dermatopathology resources, limited clinical documentation, and nonspecific encounter diagnoses. Skin conditions were likely underreported during clinical visits where other medical conditions were managed, potentially underestimating the full burden of dermatologic diseases in this population. Scarce resources and personnel constraints may have affected the accuracy and completeness of diagnostic coding.

DISCLOSURES:

The study was supported by grants from the CRI Foundation and a Wyss Global Health Scholarship. Mohareb disclosed receiving grants from the National Institutes of Health outside the submitted work. No other disclosures were reported by the authors.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.