Relationship between acne vulgaris and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in adolescent: A cross-sectional study

Abstract

High androgen hormone exposure in intrauterine life is held to be responsible for the etiopathogenesis of both acne vulgaris (AV) and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). In this study, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of ADHD in AV patients. Patients between the ages of 12 and 17, diagnosed with AV and a control group were included in the study. The Conners-Wells Adolescent Self-Report Scale-Long Form (CASS-L) was applied to both groups to determine the severity of the ADHD. Ninety-eight patients diagnosed with AV and 96 healthy controls participated in the study. All parameters of the CASS-L were found to be significantly higher in AV patients compared to the control group. In addition, with the severity of the Global Acne Grading System, a positive low level among conduct problems (r = 0.223), cognitive problems (r = 0.271), ADHD index (r = 0.238), inattention (r = 0.238), and a positive moderate level among hyperactivity (r = 0.349), hyperactivity-impulsivity (r = 0.414), and total score (r = 0.429). According to our results, patients diagnosed with AV were more prone to ADHD than the control group. Our study showed that adolescent patients diagnosed with AV were more prone to ADHD than people of similar age and gender without a diagnosis of AV. It should be noted that AV is not only a dermatological disease but may also be accompanied by psychiatric morbidities.

Keywords: Conners‐Wells Adolescent Self‐Report Scale; acne vulgaris; adolescent; attention‐deficit hyperactivity disorder; pediatric dermatology.