Patterns of ambulatory care usage and leading treatments for rosacea

Millions of rosacea sufferers are not being treated, and the reasons they do not get treatment are not well characterized.

The aim of this study is to determine the main reasons for visit, providers seen and treatments used for rosacea.

We used data from the National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey for 1993-2010, tabulating the leading reasons for visit, providers seen and treatments used in rosacea visits.

There were 1 750 000 visits per year for rosacea. The leading reasons for visit were other diseases of the skin (25.3%), skin rash (19.6%), and discoloration or abnormal pigmentation (14.7%). Dermatologists managed 72.4% of visits. The most common treatments used were topical metronidazole (29.3%), tetracycline (11.0%), minocycline (8.5%), doxycycline (7.9%), and oral metronidazole (6.9%).

Some reasons for visit were too nonspecific to provide good insight on why the patient made a visit.

Dermatologists manage rosacea most commonly, but primary care physicians need the proper training to diagnose it correctly. Improved strategies to reach untreated people with rosacea are needed.