THE PREVALENCE OF COMMON SKIN CONDITIONS IN AUSTRALIAN SCHOOL STUDENTS - 3 - ACNE-VULGARIS

The prevalence, severity and disability related to facial acne (compri sing acne on the head and neck) was assessed in a randomized sample of 2491 students (aged 4-18 years) fi-om schools throughout. the State o f Victoria in Australia. Students were diagnosed clinically by a derma tologist or dermatology registrar. The overall prevalence (including 4 -7 year olds) was 36.1% (95% confidence intervals, CI 24.7-47.5), rang ing from 27.7% (95% CI 20.6-34.8) in 10-12 year olds to 93.3% (95% CI 89.6-96.9) in 16-18 year olds. It was less prevalent among boys aged 1 0-12 years than girls of the same age; however, between the ages of 16 and 18 years, boys were more likely than girls to have acne, Moderate to severe acne was present in 17% of students (24% buys, 11% girls), Comedones, papules and pustules were the most common manifestations of acne, with one in four students aged 16-18 years having acne scars. T welve per cent of students reported a high Acne Disability Index score . This tended to correlate with clinical severity, although there was some individual variation in perception of disability. Seventy per cen t of those found to have acne an examination bad indicated in the ques tionnaire that they had acne. Of those, 65% had sought treatment, a su bstantial proportion of which (varying with who gave the advice) was c lassified as being likely to have no beneficial effect. This is the fi rst population-based prevalence study on clinically confirmed acne pub lished from Australia. The results show that acne is a common problem, They suggest the need for education programmes in schools to ensure t hat adolescents understand their disease, and know what treatments are available and from whom they should seek advice.