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Minority of teenagers reported acne as major problem

Almost 20% of teenagers perceived acne as a major problem in a cross-sectional study.

Researchers in Serbia studied 478 students (aged 15 to 18 years) who completed two health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires: the Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI), a generic survey for children with skin disease, and Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI), a disease-specific measure for acne. A t-test measured the differences between the questionnaires; Spearman’s rank coefficient was used for correlation.

Three hundred fifty-three students (64.3% boys) reported acne, with 15% mentioning acne and coexisting skin diseases. Overall mean scores of 4.35 of 30 for CDLQI and 3.57 of 15 for CADI indicated a mild impairment of HRQoL, with a good correlation between the questionnaires (rho=0.66). Overall mean scores were higher in girls, with a statistically significant difference in the CADI score (P=.017). Children who reported multiple skin diseases scored higher in the surveys, indicating greater HRQoL hardship.

Acne was reported as a major problem for 17% of boys and 18% of girls, while 62% of students considered it a minor problem. Fifteen percent of students felt “very depressed and miserable” because of acne, and 10% of boys and 18% of girls reported being “severely embarrassed, self-conscious, upset or sad.”

“It is important to detect and treat such adolescents on time to reduce the psychosocial burden associated with acne,” the researchers said.

They cautioned that while CDLQI and CADI are “simple and reliable instruments” for assessing HRQoL among children with acne, they “are not sufficient to diagnose depression or anxiety without clinical assessment.”