Epidemiology

It is thought that the incidence of malignant and premalignant skin lesions associated with exposure to the sun, including AKs, has increased by an average of 3% to 8% since the 1960s, although it is likely that this is an underestimate.​[2]​[9][10][11][12] The proportion of adults with at least one AK lesion is lower (11% to 26%) in temperate northern hemisphere countries (e.g., the US and England), and higher (40% to 60%) in countries closer to the equator (e.g., Australia).[2]​​[13]

The risk increases with advancing age, ranging from 10% prevalence in the third decade of life to >90% in people older than 80 years.[4][14] Patients who have certain genetic diseases (e.g., autosomal recessive inherited type 1 and type 2 albinism and xeroderma pigmentosum) may develop AKs at an earlier age.[15][16][17][18]

Prevalence in males is higher than in females in the US (26.5% in males vs. 10.2% in females), UK (15% in males vs. 6% in females), and Australia (55% in males vs. 37% in females).[19][20][21] People with light-colored skin are 6 times more likely to develop AKs than people with darker skin types.[22]

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