Epidemiological analysis of axillary apocrine bromhidrosis in China: a survey from Chinese higher education students

Lei Zhang; Jiaqi Cheng; Cangyu Wang; Junhong Zhao; Cuiping Zhang; Haihong Li

doi:10.3389/fmed.2023.1232744

Epidemiological analysis of axillary apocrine bromhidrosis in China: a survey from Chinese higher education students

Front Med (Lausanne). 2023 Nov 6:10:1232744. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2023.1232744. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Lei Zhang^#^{1

2}, Jiaqi Cheng^#², Cangyu Wang^#², Junhong Zhao², Cuiping Zhang³, Haihong Li^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Mental Health Center, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.
² Laboratory of Wound Repair and Dermatologic Surgery, Taihe Hospital, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei Province, China.
³ Research Center for Tissue Repair and Regeneration Affiliated to the Medical Innovation Research Department and Fourth Medical Center of PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China.
⁴ Department of Burns and Plastic Surgery, The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Background: There are few epidemiological data on axillary apocrine bromhidrosis (AAB) in the Chinese population, making it impossible to accurately estimate its prevalence or impact on individuals.

Objective: To estimate the prevalence of AAB in China, and to survey and compare the psychological status of individuals with and without AAB.

Methods: Students in several universities in China were surveyed online for AAB, and the prevalence of AAB was calculated. The Symptom Checklist 90 (SCL-90) was used to evaluate the psychological status.

Results: The prevalence of AAB in the surveyed students was 7.5% (194/2571). The projected number of Chinese higher education students with AAB was about 3 million. The onset age of AAB was mainly between 11 and 20 years old (79.90%, 155/194). 68.04% (132/194) of individuals with AAB had a positive family history, and 60.30% (117/194) had wet earwax. Individuals with AAB often felt depression, anxiety, loneliness and social alienation, and scored significantly higher on the nine primary psychological symptom dimensions than individuals without AAB.

Conclusion: AAB affects a small proportion but large numbers of Chinese population. China and the West or East-Asia and the West have different perception, recognition and treatment preferences for AAB.

Keywords: Chinese population; SCL-90; axillary apocrine bromhidrosis (AAB); epidemiological survey; higher education students; prevalence.

Grants and funding

The manuscript was supported in part by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (82172231, 82172211), and Wang Zhengguo Foundation for Traumatic Medicine.