Abstract

Introduction: The aim of this study was therefore to provide a detailed description of the dermatological
conditions presented by prisoners and to determine their determining factors in the largest detention center in Guinea.

Material and methods: This work took place in the central house of Conakry. It is a penitentiary establishment built at the beginning of the 20th century for a theoretical capacity of three hundred people. Its occupancy rate in 2013 was 377%, reflecting saturation. From April 1 to 17, 2013, we conducted a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study that included all prisoners with one or more dermatosis and who agreed to participate in the study. For each inmate, the different types of dermatosis were identified. The frequency of the shower, the use of soap for the shower, the change of clothes and the sanitation of the cells were analyzed by the Chi2 of Pearson at the threshold of 5%. The study was authorized by the prison authorities.

Results: One thousand one hundred and thirty-one detainees were examined; 320 had dermatosis, a prevalence of 27.3%. They were 292 men and 28 women with an average age of 30 years and extremes of 15 and 70 years. Infectious dermatosis were the most represented, with 247 cases (77.2%) with a predominance of scabies in 146 inmates, and dermatophytis in 58 inmates. Non-infectious dermatosis accounted for 22.8% of dermatosis with a predominance of contact eczema noted in 27 patients. One hundred and eighty-nine (59%) patients showered irregularly, 62% did not use soap for the shower, 51% irregularly changed their clothes after showering, 70 % of the cells were irregularly cleaned. Seventy-five percent of patients had never had a dermatological consultation. We found a statistically significant relationship between the occurrence of infectious dermatosis and hygienic conditions in prison settings including the frequency of the shower, the use of soap and the frequency of changing clothes.

Conclusion: The profile of skin disease observed in the Guinean prison environment is no different from that of the majority of resource-limited countries. These are pathology that can be the subject of preventive measures and/or can be aggravated by precarious conditions of hygiene and detention.

Keywords: Infectious dermatosis, prison, defectivehygiene, Guinea