Quality of life in acne vulgaris: Relationship to clinical severity and demographic data

Acne vulgaris is known to impair many aspects of quality of life. However, the correlation of this impairment with clinical severity remains equivocal despite various school, community and hospital-based studies.

A hospital-based study was undertaken to measure the impairment of quality of life of patients of acne vulgaris and correlate it with the severity of lesions.

This was a cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study in a cohort of 100 patients of acne vulgaris attending the outpatient department of our referral hospital. A physician measured the severity of lesions using the global acne grading system, and patients assessed quality of life by completing a questionnaire (Cardiff acne disability index). A correlation of these two was done; some additional correlations were brought out through demographic data collected from the patients.

There was no correlation between the severity of acne vulgaris and an impaired quality of life. Patients who consumed alcohol and/or smoked cigarettes were found to have an impaired quality of life. While the severity of acne progressively lessened in older patients, the impact on quality of life increased.

The sample size was small and there was a lack of guaranteed reliability on the self-reported quality of life.

The severity of acne vulgaris does not correlate with impairment in quality of life.