Beliefs, perceptions, and treatment modalities of acne among schoolchildren in Lithuania: A cross‐sectional study. (March 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Karciauskiene, Jurgita; Valiukeviciene, Skaidra; Stang, Andreas; Gollnick, Harald
• Is Part Of: International journal of dermatology. Volume 54:Number 3(2015:Mar.)
• Page Start: e70
• Page End: e78
• Publication Date: 2015-03
• Subjects: Dermatology -- Periodicals; 616.5
• DOI: 10.1111/ijd.12753
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0011-9059

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="ijd12753-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="ijd12753-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects the majority of adolescents.</p> </sec> <sec id="ijd12753-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Objectives</title> <p>We sought to evaluate children's and adolescents' beliefs, perceptions, sources of information, and modalities of treatment of acne.</p> </sec> <sec id="ijd12753-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>A cross‐sectional study was conducted in 1277 pupils aged 7–19 years. Children and adolescents were surveyed using a self‐administered questionnaire and were subsequently examined by one specially trained dermatologist. Children and adolescents with specialist‐confirmed acne were additionally interviewed about their help‐seeking behavior and acne treatment.</p> </sec> <sec id="ijd12753-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>The rate of response to the study was 51.4%. The overall prevalence of acne among responders was 82.9%. According to the Leeds Revised Acne Grading System, 44.6% of responders had no acne, 49.3% had mild acne, 5.9% had moderate acne, and 0.2% had severe acne. Responders with moderate or severe acne more often knew what acne was than responders with mild acne (odds ratio [OR] 5.6, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.3–24.3; OR 1.9, 95% CI 1.3–2.8, respectively). The three main sources of information about acne were parents (76.3%), magazines (35.5%), and friends (29.3%). The three main causal or exacerbating factors of acne pointed out by responders were poor hygiene (69.0%), hormones (65.3%), and diet (64.5%). Only 7.2% of pupils had been provided with treatment for acne by a dermatologist. The majority of pupils (84.9%) with acne had been using cosmetic remedies to control it.</p> </sec> <sec id="ijd12753-sec-0005" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusions</title> <p>Many children and adolescents consider acne to be a skin problem that is caused by lack of hygiene and misuse acne treatment modalities.</p> </sec> </abstract>