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. 2020 Jul 27:13:469-477.
doi: 10.2147/CCID.S262691. eCollection 2020.

Examining Quality of Life After Treatment with Azelaic and Pyruvic Acid Peels in Women with Acne Vulgaris

Karolina Chilicka  1 , Aleksandra M Rogowska  2 , Renata Szyguła  1 , Jakub Taradaj  3
Affiliations

Examining Quality of Life After Treatment with Azelaic and Pyruvic Acid Peels in Women with Acne Vulgaris

Karolina Chilicka et al. Clin Cosmet Investig Dermatol. .

Abstract

Purpose: This randomized parallel study aims to investigate the azelaic acid (AA), and pyruvic acid (PA) peels treatment effect on health-related quality of life (QOL) in young adult women with acne vulgaris.

Patients and methods: The participants were 120 female undergraduate students, with mild to moderate facial acne and an average age of 22 years old (M = 22.2, SD = 16.1). Eligibility criteria were as follows: female gender, 18-25 years of age, no dermatological treatment within the last 12 months and mild to moderate papulopustular acne. Patients were randomly divided into two groups, the first group was treated with AA, and the second group was treated with PA. Both groups received treatment every 2 weeks, for a total of 12 weeks. The Hellgren-Vincent scale was used to assess acne severity, and the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Skindex-29 were used to evaluate the quality of life of each patient. These scores were calculated before treatment, and after finishing the final treatment.

Results: All scoring systems used (Hellgren-Vincent scale, DLQI, and Skindex-29) demonstrated improvement in both groups. QOL scores were slightly better in the group using pyruvic acid compared with azelaic acid.

Conclusion: Both AA and PA have a significant impact on the objective assessment of acne symptoms, as well as the subjectively measured quality of life of young adult women with acne. There is a slightly greater improvement in QOL scores with PA compared with AA peeling treatment.

Keywords: DLQI; Skindex-29; acid peels; azelaic acid; pyruvic acid; women.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work. We also declare no conflicts of interests with the cosmetics manufacturer.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart of the study.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Example participant: (A) AA group, before treatment; (B) AA group, after treatment (C) PA group, before treatment; (D) PA group, after treatment.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Comparison of the mean score in the Skindex-29 scales (physical symptoms, emotional experiences, psychosocial functioning and total result) for AA and PA groups, at baseline and 12 weeks after peeling treatment. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals (CI).
Figure 4
Figure 4
Comparison of the mean scores in the DLQI for the AA and PA groups, at baseline and 12 weeks after peelings treatment. Error bars represent 95% confidence intervals (CI).
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