Background: Nail changes associated with ageing are common in the elderly and include characteristic\nmodifications of color, contour, growth, surface, thickness and histology. No cutaneous examination\nis complete without a careful clinical evaluation of the nails. Objective: The aim of\npresent work is to assess the frequency of senile nail changes and disorders in Iraqi people above\n50 years old compared with control age group (20 - 30 years old). Patients and methods: This\ncase-controlled, cross-sectional study was performed in the outpatient clinic of Dermatology and\nVenereology Department at the Kufa College of Medicine Teaching Hospital in Najaf Province in\nthe period from September 2010 to April 2011. The study included 200 subjects, of which 100 patients\nwere above 50 years old (study group), and the other 100 subjects were from 20 - 30 years\nold (control group). A detailed history from each subject was recorded to detect the onset, duration\nand progression of nail changes and/or disorders, their occupation and any environmental\nexposure. A careful examination of the nails was carried out to assess the type of nail changes, site\nand symmetry. Any patient with systemic disease, dermatological disease or with suspected drug\nintake was excluded from the study. Results: The present work has shown that many nail changes\nwere more frequent among older age individuals than younger age group with significant statistical\ndifference (p = 0.043 - 0.000) like dull opaque appearance, rough lusterlessness, longitudinal ridging,\naltered thickness, ragged cuticle, altered contour, subungual hyperkeratosis and scaling nail\nfolds. Chromonychia was not statistically significant (14% of study group versus 16% of the control)\nwith p = 0.692. Longitudinal melanonychia was significantly higher in the study group (6% versus\n0% of the control) with p = 0.013, while punctate leukonychia was significantly higher in the control\ngroup (16% versus 4% of study group) with p = 0.005. Conclusion: Some changes of the nail are significantly\ncorrelated with advanced age like dull opaque nails, rough lusterlessness, longitudinal\nridging. Therefore, these signs can be regarded as indicative of ageing of healthy Iraqi people.
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