Importance: Seborrheic dermatitis is a prevalent chronic inflammatory skin disease, yet its global prevalence, pathogenesis, and epidemiology remain inadequately defined.
Objective: To provide a detailed estimation of the global prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis, analyze demographic variations, and explore differences in various settings.
Data sources: Embase, PubMed, Scopus, and Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews were searched from inception through October 2023.
Study selection: Original investigations on seborrheic dermatitis prevalence were included after duplicate screening of titles, abstracts, and full articles, including only studies with clinician-diagnosed cases.
Data extraction and synthesis: Following PRISMA guidelines, data were extracted and quality was assessed independently by multiple reviewers. A random-effects model using restricted maximum likelihood was used for meta-analysis and subgroup analyses.
Main outcome and measure: The primary outcome was the pooled estimate of global seborrheic dermatitis prevalence.
Results: From 1574 identified articles, 121 studies were included, encompassing 1 260 163 individuals and revealing a pooled global seborrheic dermatitis prevalence of 4.38% (95% CI, 3.58%-5.17%), with significant heterogeneity (I2 = 99.94%). Subgroup analyses showed variations by age, with a higher prevalence in adults (5.64% [95% CI, 4.01%-7.27%]) compared to children (3.70% [95% CI, 2.69%-4.80%]) and neonates (0.23% [95% CI, 0.04%-0.43%]). Geographic analyses indicated variability, with the highest prevalence in South Africa (8.82% [95% CI, 3.00%-14.64%]) and the lowest in India (2.62% [95% CI, 1.33%-3.92%]).
Conclusions and relevance: This comprehensive meta-analysis provides a detailed estimation of the global prevalence of seborrheic dermatitis, highlighting significant variability across different demographics and settings.