Prevalence of solar damage and actinic keratosis in a Merseyside population

This study examines the prevalence of sun-related damage to the skin in a c aucasian population in north-west England. The importance of constitutional factors (complexion, skin type and age) as well as environmental and occup ational exposures for the development of actinic keratosis (AK) and kin can cers was assessed in people over 40 years of age attending outpatient clini cs (non-dermatology) at four centres in north-west England (Mersey region). Nine hundred and sixty-eight volunteers (531 men and 437 women) were recru ited, The overall prevalence of AE; was 15.4% in men and 5.9% in women. The prevalence was strongly related to age in both sexes, being 34.1% and 18.2 %. respectively, in men and women aged 70 gears and above, and was most str ongly related to two objective signs of sun exposure, namely degree of sola r elastosis and presence of solar lentigines, The prevalence of AK was high er in subjects with red hair and freckles, particularly women, There was no evidence of an increased prevalence of AK in relation to any occupation. T here was a high prevalence of seborrhoeic keratosis and viral warts in both sexes, which was age-related in the case of seborrhoeic keratosis, Ten cas es of basal cell carcinoma, eight cases of Bowen's disease and one case of malignant melanoma were identified. This study shows that the sun exposure received in 'normal' life in England is sufficient to cause potentially mal ignant skin damage in a significant proportion of the population.