Skin type is an important factor in individuals’ responses to the environment and to skin disease, and understanding variations in skin types using well-established method is the key to understand these various options and to manage specific skin conditions effectively. Over the past decades, several terms, including dry, oily, combination and sensitive, have been used to characterize skin types. However, these are not based on the evident dermatologic definition, which usually includes subjective and psychological properties. The aim of this study was to establish the new questionnaire to classify the skin types and to evaluate the characteristics of skin types in Korean women. Seven experts from the 6 university hospitals developed a consensus statements about skin types and drew up the new questionnaire consisted of 11 items. It was categorized into four major subtypes: dry or nondry; oily or nonoily; sensitive or nonsensitive; pigmented or nonpigmented. A total of 512 Korean female volunteers aged 20 to 65 years were included and completed the questionnaire. Associations with age, skin phototypes, dermatologic comorbidities were analyzed. 141 of 512 patients (27.5%) were in the third decades of age, the most common group, followed by fourth (27.1%), fifth (21.3%), sixth (15.4%), seventh (2.1%) decade groups and the patients’ mean age was 37.4 years. There was a trend that the proportion of dry skin and pigmented skin was increased and that of oily skin was decreased with older age. The proportion of sensitive skin was higher in the patients with dermatologic comorbidities, but was not correlated with age and skin phototype. The most common associated comorbidity was acne vulgaris, followed by rosacea, and contact dermatitis. The proportion of pigmented skin was higher in darker Fitzpatrick skin types. In conclusion, this study may be worthwhile because it is the first questionnaire suggested in Korean patients to classify the skin types and may provide a basis for treating numerous skin conditions based on the individuals’ skin types.

Skin type analysis based on the new questionnaire in Korean women