Findings from a survey about hidradenitis suppurativa in the Netherlands.

Abstract

Prens et al. Br J Dermatol 2022; 186:814-822. Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a long-term, recurrent and painful disease where there is inflammation (redness, tenderness and swelling) in the armpits, breasts and groin. Within HS there is a blockage of the hair follicles. This causes a mixture of boil-like lumps, areas leaking pus and scarring. This has an impact on people's quality of life. The authors set out to find out how common HS is in the Northern Netherlands and also to learn more about what other health problems occur in people with HS. A self-report questionnaire was sent to over 167,000 people and about 56,000 replied. They had expected to find that about 1% of the population had HS but the figure was higher at 2%. Many of them were not yet diagnosed with HS, and were not receiving treatment. We already knew that obesity, type 2 diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression and Crohn disease are more often found in people with HS. This study also found some other conditions that are more common in people with HS such as fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, chronic fatigue syndrome and migraine. Like other studies this study also found that people with HS are more likely to smoke. This study shows that many people are not currently being diagnosed with HS or receiving treatment for it.