Acne vulgaris and quality of life in medical student – Bandar Abbas, Iran, 2008

Introduction: Acne is the most common skin disease, affecting nearly 80% of people at some periods of their life. Patients with acne often get anxiety, minor depression and lowered self-esteem so as resulting in a poor quality of life (QOL). Irrespective of clinical severity, this disease has a great impact on lifestyle. The aim of this study is to assess quality of life issues in Bandar Abbas medical student. Methods: This cross sectional study was performed on medical students in Bandar Abbas, Iran. The severity of acne was graded using the Lehman criteria. All the students suffering from acne vulgaris completed the acne specific quality of life instrument, the Acne – QOL questionnaire. The data were analyzed by SPSS version 16 software using T and Chi-square test. Results: The result of this study shows that in 54.04% of the students acne vulgaris showed mild effect on their quality of lives. The overall mean Acne – QOL score in three domains (self- perception, social, and emotional roles) were higher in male than female. The severity of acne symptoms in women's explanation was greater than men's. 14 students (7.45%) suffered from sever acne. The severity of acne was significantly related to the quality of life (P<0.05). Conclusion: It seems that women are more vulnerable than men to psychological effects of acne. Care of acne should include attention on the quality of life as well as clinical treatment of the patient.