ElderDerm Co-Director Suggests Alternatives for 'Senile' in Diagnoses
The word senile can be avoided in discussing dermatologic diseases, Jaya Manjunath, MSIV, asserted at the ElderDerm 2025 Conference in Washington, DC.
Manjunath, a medical student and co-director of the conference along with Practical Dermatology editorial board member Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD, presented, “Common Dermatoses That Impact QOL Issues in the Elderly.” She covered various conditions and previewed unpublished research into quality of life (QOL) impact of chronic pruritus, among other topics, but closed by noting the negative connotation of the word senile.
“We, as a group—Dr. [Daniel] Butler’s Geriatric Dermatology Expert Resource Group—feel like the word senile may not be as inclusive to the older adult population,” Manjanuth said.
The group embarked on a literature review focusing on that word, she said.
“We actually are seeing the term senile a lot in the literature,” she said, “and with this project, we wanted to suggest alternative terms for common senile dermatologic diagnoses.”
She listed the following established alternatives for commonly used diagnostic terms:
- Seborrheic keratosis (senile keratosis/senile wart)
- Cherry hemangioma (senile hemangioma)
- Solar/actinic purpura (senile purpora)
- Solar lentigo (senile lentigo)
Manjanuth then suggested new alternatives for four other diagnostic terms:
- Dermatitis or dermatitis of older adults (senile dermatitis)
- Chronic pruritus of unknown origin (senile pruritus)
- Age-associated xerosis (senile xerosis)
- Age-associated gluteal dermatosis (senile gluteal dermatosis)