The psychological and emotional impact of acne and the effect of treatmentwith isotretinoin

Although knowledge concerning the dermatological treatment of chronic acne has grown considerably in recent years, relatively few studies have assesse d the impact of effective physical intervention upon the psychoemotional fu nctioning of patients. Hypotheses regarding the psychological impact of acn e were developed using concepts drawn from evolutionary psychology A sample of 34 patients (19 men and 15 women) with chronic acne were assessed for p sychological, emotional and dermatological symptomatology using a variety o f self-report questionnaires over four time-points during 16 weeks treatmen t with isotretinoin. Thirty-four patients completed the first assessment, 2 1 the second, 20 the third and 15 the fourth and final assessment; At the f irst assessment, prior to isotretinoin treatment. 15 patients (44%) reporte d clinically significant levels of anxiety, while six patients (18%) report ed clinically significant depression. Women with acne were significantly mo re embarrassed than their male counterparts about their skin disease. Treat ment with isotretinoin produced significant improvements across a wide vari ety of psychological functions, although the emotional status of patients a ppeared to be more resistant to change. Acne appears to be a condition whic h has the potential to damage, perhaps even in the long term, the emotional functioning of some patients.