THE PREVALENCE AND FACTOR AFFECTING ACNE VULGARIS AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Dr. Adnan Abdul Moneam, Dr. Wahbi MHD Nour Eddin, Dr. Ahmad M Gh M Taqi, Dr. Mohammed Shamssain*, Dr. Moayad Shahwan and Dr. Samir Haj Bloukh

ABSTRACT

Background: Acne can cause severe psychological problems, undermining self-assurance and self-esteem at a vulnerable time in life. Acne is one of the most common skin diseases. It affects between 40 million and 50 million individuals in the United States. A significant number of patients either continue to experience acne or develop new-onset acne after the teenaged years. Although knowledge concerning the dermatological treatment of chronic acne has grown considerably in recent years, relatively few studies have assessed the impact of effective physical intervention upon the psycho-emotional functioning of patients. Objective: To study the prevalence of acne in university students and to investigate risk factors for acne in these subjects. Methods: We have randomly selected university students above 18 years of age, males and females. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the students and the results were analyzed by SPSS. Results: There was a high prevalence of acne on the face, back and chest, with high rates of dissatisfaction in males and females. High proportion of males and females had oily skin and males had significantly higher proportion of oily skin compared to females. High proportion of subjects had family history of acne. Facial nature (dry, oily or combined), stress, family history of acne and using corticosteroids were significantly associated with higher incidence of acne. Our subjects had 1.8 times risk of developing acne because of facial nature, had 1.7 times of risk of developing acne if they were under stress compared to those who were stress-free, and had 3.5 times risk of developing acne if they come from a family with history of acne compared to those with no family history of acne. Subjects who used corticosteroids had 2.5 risk of developing acne compared to those who did not use corticosteroids. Conclusion: The students showed high prevalence of acne and facial nature, stress, family history of acne and use of corticosteroids were major risks for acne in these subjects.

Keywords: psychological problems, undermining self-assurance and self-esteem.