Background: The study was conducted to assess the prescription pattern of acne vulgaris patients, and impact of anti-acne treatment on severity of acne and change in quality of life (QoL) in patients.Methods: A prospective observational study was conducted in dermatology OPD of a tertiary care hospital with 160 patients of acne vulgaris. All patients with acne vulgaris >18 years, of either sex were included while those with pre-existing other cutaneous or systemic diseases, pregnant and lactating females and not giving consent were excluded from the study. Prescriptions were analysed and patients were followed-up at 2 and 6 weeks for assessment of change in acne severity and QoL, determined by GAGS score and CADI difference score, respectively.Results: Mean age of patients was 20.7±2.5 years, with males and females constituting 62 (38.8%) and 98 (61.3%) patients, respectively. Acne was mild in 88 (55%), moderate in 51 (31.9%) and severe in 21 (13.1%) patients. A total of 537 drugs were prescribed to all patients, with an average of 3.36 drugs per prescription. Two, 3 and 4 drugs were prescribed in 2.5%, 59.4% and 38.1% patients, respectively. There was significant improvement in the GAGS score (p<0.001) and QoL (CADI score difference) (p<0.001) at 2 and 6 weeks follow-up compared to initial visit.Conclusions:Polypharmacy was a common practice in anti-acne treatment. However, it was associated with improvement in acne severity and QoL.

Hand and foot eczema is a common chronic, distressing skin condition with varying etiology. A patch test can be useful to confirm the presence of allergy and to identify the actual allergen. This study aimed to identify the common allergens causing hand and foot eczema with the help of patch testing. A total of 82 cases with hand and/or foot eczema underwent patch test using Indian Standard Series. Overall, the rate of positive patch test reactions reported in hand and foot eczema was 47.6%. Potassium bichromate was the common allergens in males and Nickel sulphate was the commonest allergen in females. The commonest presentation was chronic eczema in 51.22% and morphologically unspecified eczema (40.24%) followed by hyperkeratotic eczema was the most common. The rate of positive patch test reactions encountered was high. We suggest that patch test should be used to improve therapeutic outcome in hand and feet eczema.