Epidemiology

• nearly all adults have some evidence of cutaneous scarring
• annually:
  • 100 million people acquire new scars, mostly from elective operations but a significant minority are from minor trauma
  • around four million new scars are from thermal injuries; thermal injuries seem more likely to progress to hypertrophic scars
• particularly for keloid scars, there seems to be predilection for:
  • particular races eg Asian and Afrocaribbean skin
  • onset from teenage years to early adult life
  • female gender; this may be biased by the number of ear piercing procedures that produce keloid scars
  • inherited tendency to disease by a variety of transmission patterns eg familial or autosomal

Reference:

1. Sund B. New developments in wound care. London: PJB Publications 2000: 1-255 (Clinica Report CBS 836).