Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder affecting the convexities of the central facial region. It has a high prevalence in the Caucasian population; however, we are increasingly seeing reports of rosacea in skin of colour (SOC).1
A Saudi study (N=50) reported a 42% incidence in skin type VI, 40% in skin type IV and 18% in type III.1,2 In Tunisia, 224 cases of rosacea were reported in the dark-skinned population (hospital prevalence 0.2%).1 In addition, a multicentric study in Colombia identified 291 rosacea patients: 12.4% with skin types IV or V.2 A study of 2,743 Angolan adults with Fitzpatrick skin types V-VI reported only 0.4% of patients had rosacea, meanwhile data from the United States National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey of 31.5 million rosacea visits showed that 2% of patients were types V and VI.2
Diova et al. reported on 15 of 6,700 South African patients with confirmed rosacea of which six (type V) showed erythema, telangiectasia and erythematous papules and nine (type VI) presented with skin-coloured papules.3 None reported flushing and only one had eye symptoms and extra facial lesions…
