The Relationship between Acne Severity and Body Mass Index in Females

Introduction: Acne is one of the most common diseases in dermatology. It has been claimed that acne and weight gain are clinical markers of hyperandrogenism, and it seems that obesity is associated with increased responsiveness to androgenic hormones and acne severity. This investigation may aid in finding the possible relationship between severity of acne and Body Mass Index (BMI) in order to improve the management of acne patients. Methods: This was a case-control study. After signing a consent form, 220 individuals that had referred to the outpatient clinic of dermatology of Hamadan Farshchian Hospital were recruited. All of the participants in the study population were females. There were a total of 110 patients with acne serving as the case group and 110 females, without acne as the control group. Two groups were age-matched and compared with respect to BMI. Results: There was a significant relationship between weight and acne )P = 0.001), yet no correlation was found between acne severity and BMI )P = 0.348). Conclusions: This study showed that acne and weight are related. Since overweight and metabolic syndrome is associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, identification and treatment of obesity in these patients is essential. Therefore, it could be suggested that control of obesity and metabolic syndrome may also improve management of acne patients.