Community‐based epidemiological study of psychosocial effects of acne in Japanese adolescents

Abstract

In this community-based cross-sectional study, 1443 Japanese adolescents aged 13-19 years participated from two schools in Kagawa Prefecture. Students completed a self-administered questionnaire to assess the prevalence of acne, knowledge about acne, self-management of acne and emotional well-being. A five-item version of the Mental Health Inventory (MHI) subscale of the Short Form 36 was used to assess psychological health and depression status. Among respondents, 859 (59.5%) said they had acne (51.6% of the boys and 64.8% of the girls). A majority (56.8%) of those who said they had acne also reported a family history of acne. Of the 555 female respondents with acne, 39.1% reported experiencing acne flares in temporal proximity to menstruation. Less than half (38.8%) of respondents with acne had sought or were seeking treatment. The three most common factors believed to trigger or exacerbate acne were stress, lack of sleep and sweat. The mean MHI score of 847 students with acne was significantly lower than 475 students without acne. The mean MHI score of female students with acne was significantly lower than male students with acne. Students with acne were also significantly more depressed than those without acne and female students were significantly more depressed than male students. Acne is a common problem for Japanese teenagers and causes personal and social difficulties. Our results suggest the necessity of educational programs in school or public to ensure that adolescents are aware of acne and to encourage young people to improve their mental health through better acne treatment.

Patient perception on precipitating or aggravating factors for acne

“…Fung et al and Kubota have reported that acne tends to a ect more in females than males in Asians. 15,16 In another study Tsai et al have reported that acne is associated with the female gender which is consistent with the present study. 17 Study from Korea published by Yang et al also shows that female sex is more commonly su ered by acne.…”

Clinical profile of acne vulgaris in semiurban patients

“…Cunliffe and Gollnick reported family history in 40% and Kubota et al in 56.8% of their patients of acne vulgaris. 20,21 In our study, acne scarring was seen in 80.2% patients. Incidence of post acne scarring is observed to vary from 5.9% to 40.2%.…”

“…Incidence of premenstrual flare is reported to vary from 39.1% to 57.7% by Adityan et al, Stoll et al, Ikaraoha et al, and Kubota et al 7,[24][25][26] In the present study, irregular menses was noted in 28.9% of female patients. Similarly, irregular menses noted in earlier studies varied from 10.2% to 48%.…”

Acne Management in Japan: Study of Patient Adherence

“…[4]. Kubota et al [13] studied 1,443 Japanese adolescents, and reported that 59.5% had acne; of these, 52.9% said their acne had been present for at least 1 year but did not report the rate of scarring or severe acne. However, severe acne was present in 17% of subjects in a recent study of acne treatment in Japan by Kubota et al [14].…”