AbstractBackground:The prevalence of skin diseases and diabetes mellitus (DM) are prominent around the world. The current scope of knowledge regarding the prevalence of skin diseases and comorbidities with type 2 DM (T2DM) is limited, leading to limited recognition of the correlations between skin diseases and T2DM.Methods:We collected 383 subjects from the Da Qing Diabetes Study during the period from July 9th to September 1st, 2016. The subjects were categorized into three groups: Normal glucose tolerance (NGT), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), and T2DM. The prevalence and clinical characteristics of skin diseases were recorded and investigated.Results:In this cross-sectional study, 383 inpiduals with ages ranging from 53 to 89-year-old were recruited. The overall prevalence of skin diseases was 93.5%, and 75.7% of inpiduals had two or more kinds of skin diseases. Additionally, there were 47 kinds of comorbid skin diseases in patients with T2DM, of which eight kinds of skin diseases had a prevalence >10%. The prevalence of skin diseases in NGT, IGT, and T2DM groups were 93.3%, 91.5%, and 96.6%, respectively; stratified analysis by categories showed a statistically significant difference in "disturbances of pigmentation" and "neurological and psychogenic dermatoses" . The duration of T2DM also significantly associated with the prevalence of "disturbances of pigmentation" and "neurological and psychogenic dermatoses" . Subsequently, the prevalence of "disturbances of pigmentation" was higher in males than females in NGT (P < 0.01) and T2DM (P < 0.01) groups. In addition, the difference in the prevalence of "disturbances of pigmentation" was also significant in NGT and T2DM groups (P < 0.01).Conclusions:There was a high prevalence of skin diseases in the Da Qing Diabetes Study. To address the skin diseases in the Da Qing Diabetes Study, increased awareness and intervention measures should be implemented.