Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 1989 May 6;298(6682):1217-9.
doi: 10.1136/bmj.298.6682.1217.

Acne in schoolchildren: no longer a concern for dermatologists

M Rademaker  1 , J J Garioch, N B Simpson
Affiliations

Acne in schoolchildren: no longer a concern for dermatologists

M Rademaker et al. BMJ. .

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence and severity of acne among schoolchildren in Glasgow.

Design: Secondary schools in Glasgow were divided by postcode into five socioeconomic cluster groups. Different numbers of schools were selected at random from the five groups to ensure proportional representation. One class from each registration year of the chosen schools was selected at random and the whole class recruited into the study.

Setting: 15 Secondary schools in Glasgow.

Subjects: 2014 Randomly selected schoolchildren aged 12-17 (5% of total secondary school roll).

Interventions: None.

End point: Assessment of facial acne by two independent examiners by a recognised acne scoring system.

Measurements and main results: The prevalence of acne in boys increased from 40% (75/189) at age 12 to 95% (108/114) at age 16, and in girls it increased from 61% (114/187) at age 12 to 83% (136/164) at age 16. On a scale of 0 to 10 only 18 boys (1.8%) and three girls (0.3%) had grades of acne of 1.0 or greater; most of the pupils had grade 0.05-0.375 (minimal) acne. Nine per cent of boys (88/973) and 14% of girls (145/1041) had visited their general practitioner specifically for advice on and treatment for acne; only five pupils (0.3%) had been referred to a dermatologist.

Conclusions: Both the prevalence and severity of acne have decreased over the past 20 years. This has probably been due to improvement of treatment for acne by primary care doctors and the greater availability and use of over the counter preparations for acne.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Br J Dermatol. 1971 Aug;85(2):119-26 - PubMed
    1. J Invest Dermatol. 1974 Mar;62(3):268-87 - PubMed
    1. Br Med J. 1976 Nov 27;2(6047):1312-4 - PubMed
    1. Br J Dermatol. 1984 Jul;111(1):83-92 - PubMed
    1. Br Med J. 1979 Apr 28;1(6171):1109-10 - PubMed

Publication types