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Review
. 2019 Jan-Feb;94(1):62-75.
doi: 10.1590/abd1806-4841.20198203.

Adult female acne: a guide to clinical practice

Edileia Bagatin  1   2 , Thais Helena Proença de Freitas  3   4 , Maria Cecília Rivitti-Machado, Maria Cecilia Rivitti Machado #  5   6 , Beatriz Medeiros Ribeiro  7 , Samanta Nunes  8 , Marco Alexandre Dias da Rocha  9
Affiliations
Review

Adult female acne: a guide to clinical practice

Edileia Bagatin et al. An Bras Dermatol. 2019 Jan-Feb.

Erratum in

  • Erratum.
    [No authors listed] [No authors listed] An Bras Dermatol. 2019 Mar-Apr;94(2):255. doi: 10.1590/abd1806-4841.2019940202. An Bras Dermatol. 2019. PMID: 31090844 Free PMC article.

Abstract

Background: Acne in women is often associated with anxiety and depression, and may persist from adolescence as well as manifest for the first time in adulthood. Genetic and hormonal factors contribute to its etiopathogenesis, and maintenance treatment is required, usually for years, due to its clinical evolution.

Objective: To develop a guide for the clinical practice of adult female acne.

Methods: A team of five experts with extensive experience in acne conducted a literature review of the main scientific evidence and met to discuss the best practices and personal experiences to develop a guide containing recommendations for the clinical practice of adult female acne.

Results: The group of specialists reached consensus on the main guidelines for clinical practice, providing detailed recommendations on clinical picture, etiopathogenesis, laboratory investigation and treatment of adult female acne.

Conclusion: Different from teenage acne, adult female acne presents some characteristics and multiple etiopathogenic factors that make its management more complex. This guide provides recommendations for best clinical practices and therapeutic decisions. However, the authors consider that additional studies are needed in order to provide more evidence for adult female acne to be better understood.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: Dr. Samanta Nunes is a medical consultant at Bayer.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Main etiopathogenic factors of adult female acne (AFA)
Figure 2
Figure 2
Laboratory investigation of adult female acne (AFA) TEST = Testosterone / POS = Polycystic Ovary Syndrome / FSH = Follicle Stimulating Hormone / LH = Luteinizing Hormone / S-DHEA = Dehydroepiandrosterone Sulfate
Figure 3
Figure 3
Treatment algorithm of adult female acne
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Dréno B. Treatment of adult female acne: a new challenge. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2015;29(Suppl 5):14–19. - PubMed
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    1. Tanghetti EA, Kawata AK, Daniels SR, Yeomans K, Burk CT, Callender VD. Understanding the burden of adult female acne. J Clin Aesthet Dermatol. 2014;7:22–30. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cunliffe WJ, Gould DJ. Prevalence of facial acne vulgaris in late adolescence and in adults. Br Med J. 1979;1:1109–1110. - PMC - PubMed

Supplementary concepts