engleski

Psychological Impact and Quality of Life Patients with Acne Vulgaris

Acne vulgaris is a common inflammatory dermatosis, which has great influence to patient’ s personality and emotional life. The psychological effect of acne is not fully appreciated although for the majority of acne patients with mild to moderate acne the psychosocial effect may be the most prominent morbidity. Acne can have major effects on the lives of patients causing anxiety, depression and impaired quality of life. The aim of this study was to determinate how patients with acne vulgaris cope with their disease. We examined 100 patients with acne vulgaris who had mild to moderate acne by clinical dermatologic examination. A dermatologist using a validation grading system determinate acne severity. Patients were also asked to self-rate their conditon on a series of 5/point Likert scales. Quality of life was measured using the Dermatology Specific Quality of Life Questionnaire. Results Patients who assesed their acne as more severe also had higher DSQL scores. This relation with DSQL scores was not observed for clinical assessment. Examination of the DSQL scores in function of the duration of acne showed that patients who suffer from acne for a longer period have higher DSQL score, which implies that the cumulative effects of long-term acne have a prominent influence on a quality of life. Conclusion The disability associated with acne was found to correlate inconsistently with clinical grading of acne severity. Results showed the patients with acne vulgaris to suffer from psychosocial problems caused by their disease, but the impairment is not correlated with the objective clinical assessment of acne severity. The more important factor is the patient’ s perception of his/her condition. Therefore it is important for the future research to include severity ratings from both patients and dermatologists.

acne vulgaris; psychological impact; quality of life

Rad prezentiran na: IVth World Congress of the International Academy of Cosmetic Dermatology (IACD), Paris, 02-05.06.2005.