Psycho-Social Impact of Acne Pak Armed Forces Med J 2021; 71 (4): 1171-74 1171 ASSESSMENT OF PSYCHO-SOCIAL IMPACT OF ACNE AMONG YOUNG ADULTS - A CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY AT A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL OF RAWALPINDI Zubaida Rashid, Syed Fawad Mashhadi, Imtenan Sharif, Syeda Urooj Zaidi, Saira Maroof, Mufliha Khan, Umama Liaqat Army Medical College/National University of Medical Sciences (NUMS) Rawalpindi Pakistan ABSTRACT Objective: To assess the psychosocial impact of acne and to evaluate the quality of life in relation to severity of symptoms among young adults. Study Design: Cross-sectional – analytical study. Place and Duration of Study: Outpatient department, Pak Emirates Military Hospital, Rawalpindi, from Sep 2018 to Feb 2019. Methodology: We included 300 individuals visiting the hospital and their quality of life was assessed using Acne quality of life Index questionnaire. Data was analyzed using SPSS-23. Results: Total scores were calculated for three domains of Quality of life in patients with Acne i.e. Self-perception, Emotional well-being and Social life. Out of these three domains, Social Life was most affected by acne (mean score 15.61 ± 7.37out of a total of 30) and Self-Perception was seen to be least affected (mean score 16.90 ± 8.20). There was a strong positive co-relation between the increasing severity of symptoms and impact on Self Perception (r=-0.58, p<0.01), between severity and Impact on Social life (r=-0.581, p<0.01) and between severity of symptoms and Impact on emotional well-being of the patients (r=-0.551, p<0.01). A significant difference was seen between the two genders with reference to the impact on “Social Life”, the mean score for Males being 13.96 ± 7.55 while that for Females being 17.29 ± 6.81 (p<0.01). Conclusion: Acne has significant impact on the quality of life of patients treated by primary care physicians. The severity of symptoms had strong positive correlation with self-perception, social and emotional domains. Keywords: Acne, Impact, Quality of life, Young adults. INTRODUCTION Acne is a chronic inflammatory disease characte- rized by hyper secretion of sebaceous glands 1 . There is blockade of the sebaceous gland ducts with resultant entrapment of oil in the ducts and resultant inflamm- atory lesions, non-inflammatory lesions or both along- with signifacnt scarring 2 . Depending upon severity, acne is classified into mild, moderate and severe forms, each having its own specific dermatological manifes- tations 1 . Acne affects approximately 85% of adolescents and about two third of adults aged 18 and older 3 . Acne being a chronic condition is associated with massive psychological burden and mental health problems 4 . It may be presenting at younger age due to earlier puber- ty. Hormonal factors, diet and hygiene are also thou- ght to be important factors in causing acne 5 . Acne is reported to persist till the age of 20 years in 64% of the people and may even persist in some people till the age of 30 years in about 43% of individuals, respecti- vely 6 . Acne is hereditary and is reported in people with a positive family history 7 . WHO has defined quality of life (QoL) as “indivi- dual’s perception of their position in the context of cul - ture and value system in which the lived and in rela- tion to their goal, expectations, standards and conce- rns” 8 . Several researches have been carried out world- wide to study effects of acne on patients’ QoL. Studies have addressed the psychological effects of acne such as depression, anxiety, emotions, self-esteem, self-iden- tity, and suicidal tendency 9 . The problem of acne can- not be fully addressed without considering associated psychosocial disturbances. Assessment of non-derma- tological effects of acne is critical to assist the doctors in treating its effects that are not just skin-deep. There is paucity of data on this topic in Pakistan, thus this study’s main objectives were to assess the psychosocial impact of acne among young adults and evaluate the impact of symptoms on their quality of life. METHODOLOGY This cross-sectional - analytical study was carried out at Outpatient department, Pak Emirates Military Hospital Rawalpindi, from September 2018 February 2019. Non-probability consecutive sampling technique was used. Sample size was estimated to be 300 which was calculated through WHO sample size calculator with a confidence level of 95% and margin of error 5.6%. Study group included both males and females of age group (18-35) years. Participants had a confirmed This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Correspondence: Dr Zubaida Rashid, Assistant Professor, Community Medicine Department, Army Medical College Rawalpindi Pakistan Received: 26 Feb 2020; revised received: 09 May 2021; accepted: 26 May 2021 zabi_awans@hotmail.com Original Article Open Access