ReportThe prevalence of acne in adults 20 years and older
Section snippets
Methods
A 1-page questionnaire was designed to evaluate the prevalence of acne in various adult age groups. The survey was developed in conjunction with our biostatistics department. The survey design included a test of internal consistency to exclude participants who failed to answer the survey truthfully. The survey was piloted and validated by administering the survey to patients presenting to our dermatology clinic during a 1-month period. The institutional review board reviewed and approved the
Results
A total of 1148 surveys were distributed and completed. Of these, 35 were excluded on the basis of self-contradictory answers causing the participant to fail the test of internal consistency, and 1013 were included in the data analysis. The mean age of participants was 48.0 years (SD 16.7). There were 540 female and 473 male participants included in the study. When asked whether they had ever had a pimple or acne, 73.3% of participants responded affirmatively. Concerning teenaged acne, the
Discussion
Our results confirm the findings of several previous studies that acne remains a common disease throughout the adult years. In contrast to the abundance of studies related to acne in adolescents, there are relatively few studies in the literature that address adult acne. Our study is important in that it assesses acne in both sexes according to age group. Although the data are drawn from a survey and, thus, represent self-report of acne rather than a clinical assessment, acne is a well-known
References (8)
- et al.
Most topical tretinoin treatment is for acne vulgaris through the age of 44 years: an analysis of the national ambulatory medical care survey, 1990-1994
J Am Acad Dermatol
(1998) The prevalence of acne on the basis of physical examination
J Am Acad Dermatol
(1992)Clinical practice: acne
N Engl J Med
(2005)- et al.
The quality of life in acne: a comparison with general medical conditions using generic questionnaires
Br J Dermatol
(1999)
Cited by (445)
IPL-PDT as an effective treatment for mild-to-moderate acne vulgaris: A prospective, single-center, self-controlled study
2024, Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic TherapyEpidemiology of acne and rosacea: A worldwide global study
2024, Journal of the American Academy of DermatologyDMT310, a novel once-weekly topical treatment for patients with moderate-to-severe acne vulgaris: Results of a phase 2b randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial
2023, Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology
Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.
Presented in poster form at the American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting in Washington, DC, February 2-6, 2007.