Prevalence and Risk Factors of Dermatoporosis in Patients Over 75 Years of Age Hospitalized in Reeducation

The term dermatoporosis, by analogy to osteoporosis, was proposed by Professor Saurat to define all the manifestations linked to skin aging leading to fragility and skin failure. With age, the gradual disappearance of hyaluronic acid and its CD44 cell receptor leads to the degeneration of the extracellular matrix and then to the loss of the protective mechanical functions of the skin. It thus appears an alteration of the viscoelasticity of the skin. The most common skin manifestations of dermatoporosis are mainly located on the upper limbs. Several clinical manifestations characterize dermatoporosis: skin atrophy, senile purpura, stellate pseudo-scars, delayed healing and finally dissecting skin hematoma. There are 4 evolutionary stages of dermatoporosis described by Professor Saurat and by Doctor Kaya, in 2007: Stage 1: strong thinning of the skin with senile purpura and stellate pseudo-scars. Stage 2: manifestations of the previous stage and small, localized skin lacerations resulting from a cleavage between the dermis and the epidermis. Stage 3: more and larger skin lacerations with a noticeable delay in healing Stage 4: the progression of the lesions described above leads to the formation of dissecting skin hematomas which may progress to skin necrosis. (Saurat JH Dermatoporosis - the functional side of skin aging. Dermatology 2007 and Kaya G, dermatoporosis: A chronic cutaneous insufficiency / fragility syndrome. Clinicopathological features, mechanisms, prevention and potential treatments. Dermatology 2007). A study by Mengeaud et al found a significant association between severe renal failure and dermatoporosis. Two studies, one in Toulouse and the other in Finland, looked at the prevalence and risk factors of dermatoporosis in patients over 60 years of age. The observational study on 202 patients over 60 years old in Toulouse shows a prevalence of 32%, with preferentially localization on the upper limbs. Stage 1 is the most common. Multivariate statistical analyzes show that dermatoporosis is significantly associated with the use of local and oral corticosteroids, anticoagulants, and chronic renal failure. On the other hand, it has not been shown to be associated with diabetes and the patient's sun exposure.Another study, dating from 2018 also found that kidney failure, taking antiaggregants and anticoagulants, corticosteroid therapy (local or systemic) are risk factors for dermatoporosis. However, no study has been carried out on a geriatric population, and the association between phototype, sun exposure and dermatoporosis has to our knowledge never been systematically investigated in the few studies conducted.