Primary care professionals' views on acne self-management: qualitative interview study

Acne is common and psychosocial impacts can be substantial. Patients lack knowledge about effective treatments which impairs adherence to treatment. Primary care professionals (PCPs) play an important role in addressing gaps in knowledge and signposting to reliable sources of information.

To explore PCPs' views and experiences of acne management, perceptions of a proposed web-based self-management support intervention and decision aid for young people with acne, and its implementation in practice.

Qualitative semi-structured interview study with PCPs in England.

PCPs were invited to take part via emails sent to pharmacies, GP practices, and through social media advertising. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants from a variety of professional disciplines to capture diverse perspectives. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.

Eighteen PCPs were interviewed, comprising GPs, pharmacists, and nurse or paramedic prescribers. They reported challenges in managing acne, including patients' limited knowledge about acne treatments, treatment non-adherence, managing patients' expectations and psychological impacts, and lack of time due to patients consulting for acne alongside other conditions. PCPs valued guidelines and templates that could easily be used within consultations, and most described the importance of signposting patients to reliable advice. Interviewees felt that acne-specific resources could enhance patient empowerment, shared decision-making, facilitate safety-netting and potentially save time in consultations.

These findings highlight the need for greater access to evidence-based acne resources for patients and PCPs. This has informed the development of an intervention and decision aid designed to support effective acne management.