BACKGROUND Acne vulgaris is one of the most common skin diseases worldwide. It affects more than 85% of adolescents and two-thirds of young adults. Face is the commonest site affected. The discomfort, pain, scarring and associated seborrhoea frequently result in psychosocial morbidity. Aims-To study the impact on the quality of life of acne patients using Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) questionnaire and to find out the sociodemographic and clinical determinants of DLQI. MATERIALS AND METHODS A hospital based cross-sectional study design was adopted. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Severity of acne was assessed by Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) score and quality of life by DLQI questionnaire. DLQI was expressed as mean, and student's t test, one way ANOVA and Pearson's correlation coefficients were used as the tests of significance. RESULTS Acne affected the quality of life in 94% of patients. Small effect on the quality of life was seen in 37%, moderate effect in 31% and large effect in 25% and extremely large effect in 1%. Statistically significant (P< 0.001) correlation was seen between the quality of life and severity of acne. The difference in mean DLQI of patients with and without seborrhoea was statistically significant (P=0.045). CONCLUSION Acne has an impact on the quality of life of patients. Quality of life measure helps to identify patients who are vulnerable to psychological complications. A quality of life measure can be incorporated as an integral part of acne management.