Prevalence and quality of life of facial acne: a cross-sectional study in high school students in Poland

Abstract

Introduction: Acne is a frequent chronic inflammatory disease, which affects most commonly adolescents. It might have a negative effect on patients' well-being.

Aim: To appraise the prevalence of facial acne among adolescents and to assess how acne of different clinical severity influences quality of life in this age group.

Material and method: This cross-sectional study was conducted on a representative sample of individuals aged 15-19 years in high schools in Poland. A total of 730 students were included in the final analysis. Standardized photographs according to the Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) were used for self-assessment of both the presence and severity of facial acne. The Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) was employed to evaluate subjects' quality of life (QoL) impairment.

Results: Facial acne was found in 547 (74.9%) respondents with no significant difference in acne prevalence among females (75.1%) and males (74.6%). The vast majority of acne individuals (90.9%) suffered from minimal and mild acne, moderate acne was reported by 7.3% and severe one by 1.8% of acne students. Acne had a small effect on QoL (DLQI mean score of 2.8 ±3.6 points); females had significantly more decreased QoL than males (3.17 ±3.74 and 1.76 ±2.69 points, respectively). QoL impairment positively correlated with the clinical severity of facial acne.

Conclusions: Facial acne is a common health problem in adolescents. Although it is not very severe in the majority of subjects it significantly decreases their QoL. Therefore, acne should be treated as a serious skin condition requiring a holistic approach to the patients.

Keywords: acne; adolescents; prevalence; quality of life; severity.

Figure 1

Acne effect on the QoL impairment

Figure 2

Correlation between QoL impairment and acne severity