Evaluation of psychological well-being and social impact of atrophic acne scarring: A multinational, mixed-methods study.

BACKGROUND

Most people with acne are at risk of developing acne scars, but the impact of these scars on patients' quality of life is poorly researched.

OBJECTIVE

To assess the perspective of patients with acne scars and the impact of these scars on their emotional well-being and social functioning.

METHODS

A 60-minute interview of 30 adults with acne scars informed and contextualized the development of a cross-sectional survey of 723 adults with atrophic acne scars.

RESULTS

The main themes identified in the qualitative interviews included acceptability to self and others, social functioning, and emotional well-being. In the cross-sectional survey, 31.6%, 49.6%, and 18.8% of the participants had mild, moderate, and severe/very severe acne scarring. The survey revealed that 25.7% of the participants felt less attractive, 27.5% were embarrassed or self-conscious because of their scars, 8.3% reported being verbally and/or physically abused because of their scars on a regular basis, and 15.9% felt that they were unfairly dismissed from work. In addition, 37.5% of the participants believed that their scars affected people's perceptions about them, and 19.7% of the participants were very bothered about hiding their scars daily. Moreover, 35.5% of the participants avoided public appearances, and 43.2% felt that their scars had negatively impacted their relationships.

LIMITATIONS

The temporal evaluation of the impact was not estimated.

CONCLUSION

Even mild atrophic acne scarring can evoke substantial emotional, social, and functional concerns.

Informations de copyright

© 2021 by the American Academy of Dermatology, Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

Dr Tan has acted as a consultant for and/or received grants/honoraria from Bausch, 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, 10.13039/100004319Pfizer, Almirall, Boots/10.13039/100005153Walgreens, Botanix, Cipher, 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, Novan, 10.13039/100004336Novartis, Promius, 10.13039/501100004296SUN, and Vichy. Dr Beissert has acted as an advisor for AbbVie Deutschland GmbH & Co, Actelion Pharmaceuticals GmbH, Allmirall-Hermal GmbH, Amgen GmbH, Celgene GmbH, Galderma Laboratorium GmbH, Janssen-Cilag GmbH, Leo Pharma GmbH, Lilly Deutschland GmbH, Menlo Therapeutics, MSD Sharp & Dohme GmbH, Novartis Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Sanofi-Aventis Deutschland GmbH, and UCB Pharma GmbH and has received speaker honorarium from Novartis Pharma GmbH, AbbVie, MSD, Pfizer, Janssen-Cilag, Roche-Posay, Actelion, GSK, BMS, Celgene, Allmirall, and Hexal-Sandoz. Dr Cook-Bolden has acted as an advisor, consultant, investigator, and/or speaker and has received grants/honoraria from Almirall, Cassiopea, Foamix Pharmaceuticals, 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, and Ortho Dermatologics. Dr Chavda is an employee of Galderma. Dr Harper has acted as an advisor, consultant, and/or speaker and has received honoraria from Almirall, BioPharmX, Cassiopeia, Cutanea, Cutera, Dermira, EPI Health, Galderma, LaRoche-Posay, Ortho Dermatologics, Sol-Gel Technologies, Sun, and Vyne. Dr Hebert has acted as an advisor, consultant, investigator, and/or speaker and has received grants/honoraria from 10.13039/100007819Allergan, Cassiopea, 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, GSK, La Roche-Posay, Novan, Ortho Dermatologics, Ortho Dermatologics, 10.13039/100009857Regeneron 10.13039/100004339Sanofi, and Vyne. Dr Lain has acted as an advisor, consultant, investigator, and/or speaker and has received grants/honoraria from 10.13039/100006483AbbVie, Aclaris Therapeutics Inc, 10.13039/100007819Allergan Inc, Almirall, 10.13039/100004325AstraZeneca, Athenix, Biopelle Inc, BioPharmX, Biorasi LLC, BMS, Brickell Biotech Inc, Cassiopea SpA, 10.13039/100006436Celgene, Cellceutix, ChemoCentryx, Cutanea Life Sciences, Demira, Dow Pharmaceutical Sciences Inc, Dr Reddy's Laboratory, 10.13039/100004312Eli Lilly and Company, Gage Development Company LLC, Galderma Laboratories L.P., 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, Hovione, Kadmon Corporation LLC, La Roche-Posay, Leo Pharma, 10.13039/501100004628MedImmune, Menlo Therapeutics, Moleculin LLC, Neothetics, Nielsen Holdings N.V, 10.13039/100004336Novartis, Othro Dermatologics, 10.13039/100004319Pfizer Inc, Promius Pharma LLC, Sebacia Inc, Sienna Labs Inc, SkinCeuticals LLC, Sol-Gel Technologies, 10.13039/100011110UCB, and Valeant Pharmaceuticals North America LLC. Dr Layton has acted as an advisor, consultant, investigator, and/or speaker and has received grants/honoraria from 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, GSK, L'Oreal, La Roche-Posay, Origimm, Leo Pharma, and Proctor & Gamble. Dr Rocha has acted as an advisor and/or speaker and has received honoraria from Eucerin, Galderma, Johnson & Johnson, and Leo Pharma. Dr Weiss has acted as an advisor, consultant, investigator, and/or speaker and has received grants/honoraria from Almirall, Bausch, Cassiopea, Cutera, EPI Health, Foamix, 10.13039/501100009754Galderma, and Ortho Dermatologics. Dr Dréno has acted as an advisor, consultant, and/or speaker and has received honoraria from BMS, Galderma, La Roche-Posay, Merck Serono, Pierre Fabre, and Sanofi.