A hospital Based Cross Sectional Study On Clinical- Epidemiological Study Of Acne Vulgaris In Tertiary Care Hospital

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