BACKGROUND/AIM: Acne is well recognized condition that adversely affects quality of life (QoL) of the patients. The aim of this study was to determine the self-reported prevalence of acne and its main characteristics in high school pupils, and to assess their QoL. METHODS: The cross-sectional study conducted in May 2011 comprised 440 pupils from Serbia (281 from Belgrade and 159 from Uzice). Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. Two questionnaires were administered: a short demographic questionnaire, and Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). Internal consistency was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha while item-total score correlations were assessed using Spearman's correlation analysis. RESULTS: The majority of the study population (84.3%) were girls, and 15.7% were boys. The total mean age of the pupils was 16.48 +/- 0.55 years. A total of 228 (51.8%) pupils self-reported their acne with significantly higher prevalence in Uzice (73.6%) than in Belgrade (39.5%). The mean CDLQI score was 3.55 with the similar quality of life impairment in adolescents from the two cities. The mean Cronbach's alpha was 0.83. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the mean overall CDLQI score and CDLQI subscale scores that ranged from 0.401 to 0.841. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that acne is associated with impairment in QoL that is in accordance with previous studies performed on teenagers. The CDLQI is a reliable and valid measure, and can be used as a practical tool for measuring the impact of acne on patients' QoL.
BACKGROUND/AIM: Acne is well recognized condition that adversely affects quality of life (QoL) of the patients. The aim of this study was to determine the self-reported prevalence of acne and its main characteristics in high school pupils, and to assess their QoL. METHODS: The cross-sectional study conducted in May 2011 comprised 440 pupils from Serbia (281 from Belgrade and 159 from Uzice). Participation in the study was voluntary and anonymous. Two questionnaires were administered: a short demographic questionnaire, and Children's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI). Internal consistency was assessed using the Cronbach's alpha while item-total score correlations were assessed using Spearman's correlation analysis. RESULTS: The majority of the study population (84.3%) were girls, and 15.7% were boys. The total mean age of the pupils was 16.48 +/- 0.55 years. A total of 228 (51.8%) pupils self-reported their acne with significantly higher prevalence in Uzice (73.6%) than in Belgrade (39.5%). The mean CDLQI score was 3.55 with the similar quality of life impairment in adolescents from the two cities. The mean Cronbach's alpha was 0.83. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the mean overall CDLQI score and CDLQI subscale scores that ranged from 0.401 to 0.841. CONCLUSION: Our study confirmed that acne is associated with impairment in QoL that is in accordance with previous studies performed on teenagers. The CDLQI is a reliable and valid measure, and can be used as a practical tool for measuring the impact of acne on patients' QoL.
Authors: Luiz Eduardo De Freitas Xavier; Breno Bernardes-Souza; Oscar Campos Lisboa; Werner Seeger; David Alexander Groneberg; Thien-An Tran; Fabian Norbert Fries; Paulo César Rodrigues Pinto Corrêa; Titus Josef Brinker Journal: JMIR Res Protoc Date: 2017-01-30