Abstract:
Background
Acne is one of the most common skin disorder worldwide irrespective of all
ethnicities and races and occurs primarily at puberty with a prevalence of almost 95%.
It is a chronic inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous unit characterized by non
inflammatory open and closed comedones to inflammatory papules, pustules, nodules
and sinus.
Objective
To determine the epidemiological and clinical aspects of acne vulgaris in a
tertiary care hospital.
Methodology
Two hundred patients have been enrolled so far. Detailed history was taken
including age, age and site of onset, duration of lesions, distribution of lesion and
aggravating factors and clinical examination and grade of the acne (devised by
Adityan et al.) was recorded. Hormonal irregularities were investigated in patients
signs of hyperandrogenism like menstrual irregularities, hirsutism and acnthosis
nigricans.
Result:
Among 506 patients included in the study 313(61.9%) were females and
193(38.1%) were males. The mean age among males and females was 20.1years and
19.6 years respectively. Grade 2 acne was seen in majority of patients 296(58.5%),
while grade 4 was least common 27(5.3%). Face was commonest site involved.
Topical steroid and summer exacerbation were main aggravating factors seen in
79(15.6) and 75(14.8%) patients respectively. Among 313 female patients
x
premenstrual flare was seen in 116(22.9%). Family history of acne seen12.5%.
Menstrual irregularities was seen in 112 patients, hirsutism in 18 patients and
acanthosis nigricans in 5 patients but raised laboratory markers of hyperandrogenism
were observed in only 5 patients.
Conclusion
The study brings out the epidemiological and clinical aspects of acne vulgaris
in a tertiary care hospital. Acne has a multifactorial etiology. It poses a dermatological
and cosmetic problem in patients of acne vulgaris which can have a negative
psychosocial impact on their life. Educating the patients about the aggravating factors
and counseling about the role of positive family history may lead to reassurance of the
patients
