Study Details Factors that Influenced Quality-of-Life in Acne Patients

Femke de Vries, MSc

A recent cross-sectional, survey-based study delineated factors which influenced the quality-of-life (QoL) in patients with acne and found that changes to QOL were not associated with the type of caregiver while the greatest improvement before and after care was achieved after medical treatment by a dermatologist.

Additionally, female patients and individuals experiencing more severe type of acne also experienced a more impaired acne related QOL.

Previous research suggested that professional acne care could be effective in reducing clinical signs and improve QOL.

In the present study, Femke de Vries, MSc, Department of Dermatology at Univeristy Medical Center in Nijmegen, Netherlands, lef a team of investigators in investigating other factors that might influence QOL such as age, gender, and acne severity.

The Methods

The team assessed the impact of acne vulgaris on health-related QOL through a cross sectional, questionnaire-based study that involved Dutch individuals with acne.

The recruitment of patients with acne took place between March and September 2019, and eligibility for participation was restricted to those who spoke and read Dutch, were at least 18 years of age, and suffering from or recently recovered from self-diagnosed acne vulgaris.

Additionally, the team preferred that eligible participants had sought professional help from an acne care provider.

Subjects were recruited via posters and flyers that were distributed in vocational schools, universities, and healthcare organization waiting rooms across the country. All recruitment channels contained a URL link and a QR code that directly corresponded to a digital questionnaire, and data were collected using the survey platform LimeSurvey and subsequently transported to the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 25 for further analysis.

The Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) questionnaire was used to determine the impact of acne on QOL and contained 5 questions about feelings, social life, skin exposure, and overall severity. The responses to each question were made on a 4-point scale, and the CADI score was calculated by summing the score of each question (0-3), resulting in a minimum score of 0 and a maximum score of 15.

The Findings

A total of 371 CADI questionnaires were completed, though 362 patients with acne were included.

No statistically significant differences were found in QOL measured by CADI among patients visiting the 4 investigated acne caregivers (mean CADI score: dermatologist, 4.49; GPs, 4.42; dermal therapist, 4.07; beautician, 4.20, P = .24).

However, investigators observed that the impact of the treatment on the QOL demonstrated a statistically significant improvement when attending a dermatologist, compared to the care provided by beauticians (Global QOL improvement: dermatologist, 1.50; GP, 1.01; dermal therapist, 1.10; beautician, 0.54, P = .05).

Additionally, females experienced a more impaired acne-related QOL than males (P = .05), and increased acne severity was associated with a more impaired QOL (P < .05).

“Identifying the possible value of care(givers) on the acne-related QOL may contribute to adopting QOL measures as an integral part of acne management,” the team wrote. “This may improve the quality of acne care provision in clinical practice, that is more in line with the patients' needs.”

The study, "The association between acne care provision and quality of life: A cross-sectional survey," was published online in Health Science Reports.