To the Editor: Hidradenitis suppurativa is a recalcitrant inflammatory skin disease that, left untreated, causes significant patient morbidity. The diagnosis is based on the presence of 3 obligatory clinical diagnostic criteria: typical lesions, typical topography, and chronicity. These criteria enable screening through a simple questionnaire. Vinding et al1 created and validated such a questionnaire, used in Europe and Australia.2,3

We conducted an exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional study to estimate hidradenitis suppurativa prevalence in the Holy Family Hospital, Berekum, Berekum municipality, Brong Ahafo region, Ghana, West Africa, a representative of tropical rural Ghana. To our knowledge, this was the first attempt to validate the questionnaire in an African population.

Participants were healthy persons accompanying patients attending the general outpatient department of the Holy Family Hospital. After obtaining oral and written consent, a nurse read a translated version of the questionnaire for the participant. All screen-positive patients and 10% of the screen-negative ones were physically examined.

The questionnaire was translated into Twi (Akan language) and back-translated by 2 groups of 2 nurses and checked by the first author for content. The questionnaire also contained questions on sex, age, body mass index, and smoking.

Five hundred twenty-five questionnaires were handed out, of which 23 were incomplete and subsequently censored. Among the remaining 502 participants, the hidradenitis suppurativa prevalence was 0.8% (4/502; 95% confidence interval 0.2%-2.0%). Fifty-four screen-negative participants were randomly chosen for physical examination. Among those patients, none had hidradenitis suppurativa. There were no differences in sex, age, body mass index, and smoking among individuals with hidradenitis suppurativa–positive and –negative results (Table I). Screen-positive patients did not differ from the screen-negative ones (data not shown).