Acne Awareness and Perceptions among Female Paramedical Female Students at a Tertiary Care Hospital
Journal Title: Journal of Medical Research and Practice - Year 2017, Vol 6, Issue 2
Abstract
Background Acne vulgaris is one of the most common skin disease affecting adolescents, yet there is a paucity of information regarding the basic knowledge of acne. Objective The objective of the study is to evaluate the awareness, knowledge, beliefs and myths about acne among paramedical students at a tertiary care hospital. Methods Paramedical female students suffering from acne were asked to fill up a questionnaire about their knowledge about acne vulgaris and a total of 500 patients completed the questionnaire. Simultaneously, severity of acne was assessed using a Global Acne Grading System (GAGS). Results A positive family history of acne was elucidated from 30.8% patients. Out of 500 respondents, 24.8% patients believed that acne is a disease. A high percentage (63%) patients believed that acne is both a health and cosmetic problem, 21% thought it to be a health problem while 16% patients consider acne is only a cosmetic condition. According to a majority of patients (n = 270, 54%) thought they had an oily skin, 33% dry skin while 13% felt that they had oily skin at places while dry skin at other. The combination of an unhealthy diet, infection and poor hygiene were believed to cause acne in 60.4% patients. Unhealthy diet was the single most common implicated factor constituting 260 patients (52%) followed by poor hygiene (24.4%), infections (28%), hormonal factors (10.2%) and genetic factors (9%). When acquired about most common aggravating factors, diet was the common factor aggravating acne in which 47.4% patients believed that fried food could aggravate acne. Other factors were spicy food (40%), pickle (20.4%), peanuts (10.4%), chocolate (7%) and milk (2%). Premenstrual flare was noticed in 54% acne patients. Regarding acne severity grading, 323 patients (64.6%) had mild acne, 156 (31.2%) had moderate acne and 21 patients (4.2%) had severe acne. 14.8% felt depressed about acne, 13.2% were underconfident while 11.2% avoided party and social gathering because of acne. Television/internet (65%) was the most common source of information about acne followed by family physicians (44%), parents (29%), and friends (28%) and magazines (25%). Conclusion It can be concluded that despite having some basic knowledge about medical science, paramedical students had certain false beliefs and misconceptions about various aspects of acne, and there is a need for accessible, accurate, community-based education on the natural history of acne, pathogenesis, risk of sequelae, the effectiveness and expected duration of treatment, and the importanceof prompt medical attention.
Authors and Affiliations
Mudita Gupta
Keywords
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