Belliappa Pemmanda Raju1, Umashankar Nagaraju2
BACKGROUND
Acne is a common problem in adolescent children and has a considerable impact on their quality of life.
AIMS
The impact of acne on quality of life (QoL) in Indian adolescent patients remains undocumented. The study was undertaken to detect the impact of acne vulgaris in adolescents on the QoL using 2 questionnaires: The Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) and the Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI).
MATERIALS AND METHODS
This was a hospital-based, prospective, cross-sectional, pre-structured, questionnaire-based study done on 140 consenting individuals, who attended the Acne Clinic of our Dermatology Outpatient Department. Acne vulgaris was graded using simple grading system. QoL was measured using a combination of skin disease-specific (Children’s Dermatological Life Quality Index (CDLQI)) and acne-specific (Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI)) questionnaires.
RESULTS
The study population included 140 cases with a female to male ratio of 1.5:1. Comedones (123, 87.9%) were the most common type of lesion. Grade I acne was the most common clinical type (76.4%). There was a statistically significant difference between acne severity and gender. The overall mean CDLQI score (7.21 of max. 30) and the overall mean CADI score (4.8 of max. 15) were low, indicating a mild impairment of QoL among adolescents. Statistically significant association was noted between CDLQI and CADI scores and grade of acne. There was no statistically significant association noted between CDLQI and CADI scores and gender.
CONCLUSION
Though acne had impact on patient’s QoL, it was less severe in our study. The CDLQI and CADI questionnaires represent simple and reliable instruments for the assessment of QoL among adolescents and should be incorporated when managing acne patients to provide better and appropriate care.
