Prioritizing treatment outcomes: How people with acne vulgaris decide if their treatment is working.
Layton AM, Whitehouse H, Eady EA, Cowdell F, Warburton KL, Fenton M.
J Evid Based Med. 2017 Apr 26. doi: 10.1111/jebm.12249.
- Goal: To measure what people consider an effective treatment for acne, 145 people with acne (PwA) took part, 897 answered the treatment was effective, and 742 fitted with possible outcomes:
- More than a third said that there were fewer spots.
- A fifth said it was less redness.
- Around one in seven said it was a reduction in spot size and around the same proportion said it was a reduction in pain/discomfort.
- How did patients observe changes ?
- Looking at the skin was the most widely adopted way of assessing (16.3% of people) and Visual Signs were most considered. Symptoms were less used.
- Quality of life was only infrequently mentioned
Comments:
- objective measurements run in trials (lesion counts, severity) do not include measurements done by patients at a single point in time, which can include psychosocial well-being and mood. Further studies will need to take this into account.
- The authors use the term “People with Acne (PwA)” as Acne affects not only patients; many manage themselves and never see a doctor.
Study from UK, a quarter of those who responded lived outside of the UK
Article selected by Saurat JH, MD
