Prevalence of Hidradenitis Suppurativa in Athens, Greece: A Cross-Sectional Study Based on a Validated Questionnaire

UNLABELLED: <p>Introduction: Prevalence of hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) differs between countries and the worldwide prevalence of the disease remains unknown. Prevalence of HS has never been studied in Greece. The aim of this study was to estimate the HS prevalence in Athens, the capital of Greece.

METHOD: Healthy adults accompanying patients to the outpatient department of internal medicine of ATTIKON University Hospital were approached by physicians familiar with HS. All eligible persons signed an informed consent form and answered the questionnaire. This study was a part of the Global Hidradenitis Suppurativa Atlas (GHiSA) initiative and therefore followed the objective and approach previously published by Bouazzi et al. [Dermatology. 2024 Feb;240(3):369-75].

RESULTS: Out of 553 participants, 20 screened positive for HS. Of these, only one was diagnosed with HS, resulting in a prevalence of 0.18% (95% CI, 0.03%-1.02%). The sensitivity of the HS questionnaire was 100%, specificity 75.9%, positive predictive value 5.0%, and negative predictive value 100%.

CONCLUSION: The prevalence of HS in our study was relatively low. A further study with a larger number of participants is needed to confirm the findings. </p>.