RELEVANCE OF SKIN PHOTOTYPING TO A KOREAN POPULATION

We have determined skin phototype by a self-reporting questionnaire pr oposed by Fitzpatrick in 128 Korean medical students. We also measured the minimal erythema dose (MED), minimal melanogenic dose and investi gated their relationship to phototype. A questionnaire of skin phototy pes revealed that 13.3% of the students are skin phototypes I and II. Based on MEDs, we demonstrated that 14.8% of the students fall into th e UV-sensitive group as defined by an MED of less than 40 mJ/Cm-2, whi ch is the upper range of MED of phototypes I and II in a white populat ion. The skin phototypes did not show a positive correlation to MEDs a nd only 2.3% of students classified as skin phototypes I and II showed an MED below 40 mJ/cm(2). This study indicates that the skin phototyp ing method proposed by Fitzpatrick does not reliably predict UV-sensit ive individuals within the Korean population.