METHODS: This prospective study was performed between 2011 and 2015. All 150 patients were given 10 mg daily isotretinoin until a cumulative dose of 90-110 mg/kg.
RESULTS: The mean age was 26.6 years with 64.7% moderate acne, 29.3% severe, and 6% very severe. The mean cumulative dose was 98.8 ± 6.05 mg/kg. All 150 patients had total clearance with a mean time to clearance of 24.0 weeks. Patients with severe/very severe acne had higher cumulative dosage (102.1 vs. 97.0, P
METHODS AND STUDY DESIGN: A case-control study was conducted involving 57 acne vulgaris patients and 57 age-, gender- and ethnicity-matched controls. All participants were aged 14 and above. The Comprehensive Acne Severity Scale (CASS) was used to categorise patients (grades 2 to 5) and controls (grades 0 to 1). Information such as the demographics, family history, smoking habits and dietary intake were collected using a self-administered questionnaire.
RESULTS: In the patient arm, the gender ratio of male to female was 1.5:1. 43 patients (75.4%) had a family history of acne vulgaris. No significant association was found for acne in patients with a history of smoking. Milk consumption was significantly higher in patients (63.2%, n=36) versus controls (43.9%, n=25), (OR=2.19, p<0.05). In addition, chocolate consumption was also significantly higher in patients (43.9%, n=25) versus controls (24.6%, n=14), (OR=2.4, p<0.05). No significant association was found with the intakes of sweets, potatoes, chips, nuts, yoghurt, ice-cream or carbonated drinks.
CONCLUSIONS: Dietary intake of milk and chocolate may play a role in acne vulgaris. Prospective cohort and intervention studies are recommended to explore whether a causal relationship might obtain.
METHODS: This survey was conducted in Penang from October 2016 to June 2017. Respondents were those who were ≥18 years. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire which consists of three randomly selected facial pictures, with at least one acne skin and one clear skin picture.
RESULTS: A total of 435 respondents were recruited. Two third of the respondents (76%) suffered or had suffered from acne. The skin was the first thing noticed by 76.1% respondents when viewing pictures with acne compared with 24.8% with clear skin (p <0.05). People with acne were perceived as being unattractive, sad, lonely, distant, unhealthy, disheveled and shy as compared to people with clear skin (p<0.05). People with clear skin were perceived to be healthier, confident, happy, attractive, successful and intelligent (p<0.05). Respondents were more willing to engage socially with people with clear skin rather than those with acne skin. A significantly higher proportion of respondents were likely to hire or vote for those with clear skin as compared to acne skin. People with acne were also perceived to have a lower educational level and poorer leadership quality.
CONCLUSION: The results of this survey showed that there were significantly negative perception and psychological judgement toward individuals with acne vulgaris. These negative impacts may affect social life of the acne sufferers, their prospect of employment and career opportunities.