Study of Drug Use Pattern & Analysis of Quality of Life In Patients of Acne Attending The Dermatology OPD In A Tertiary Care Hospital
Study of Drug Use Pattern & Analysis of Quality of Life In Patients of Acne Attending The Dermatology OPD
Keywords:
Acne, Quality of Life, CADI, DLQI, Drug Utilization PatternAbstract
Background: Acne vulgaris is a skin condition affecting a large proportion of the population. Various drug therapies are available for the same, which include topical and systemic drugs. Additionally, this disease has a profound impact on the quality of life (QOL) and hence this study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the drug use pattern as well the quality of life in such individuals. Aims: To study the drug utilization pattern of Acne vulgaris in Out Patient Department of Dermatology in a tertiary care hospital. To analyze health related Quality of Life using the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) Methods: (including settings and design and statistical analysis used) This was a prospective, cross sectional study of 8 weeks duration, which was approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). It was carried out on the patients visiting the Dermatology OPD at a tertiary care hospital who were diagnosed with acne for at least one month. The responses of patients were recorded by using the CADI and the DLQI questionnaires that addressed various aspects of QOL. The drug utilization pattern was also studied. The data was analyzed using the SPSS 22 software. The Spearman rho test was applied. Results: Mean age of the patients was 20.23 ± 2.78 years with male: female ratio 0.69:1. Majority of the patients were diagnosed with grade 2 acne vulgaris. A total of 389 drugs were prescribed to 90 patients. The number of drugs received by each patient was 4.32. The most commonly prescribed topical drug in this sample was clindamycin phosphate, which formed 26.83% of the total topical drugs. Among the systemically prescribed drugs, azithromycin was the most commonly used. The Cardiff Acne Disability Index and the Dermatology Life Quality Index was used to determine the Quality of Life of patients suffering from acne vulgaris. The mean CADI score was 6.34 ± 3.625. It was noted that the highest score was 21 and was scored by patients of the age group 21 to 23 years. The mean DLQI score was 9.02 ± 5.821, indicating that acne vulgaris moderately affects the health related quality of life of the patients. From the survey, it was observed that the highest score was 26 obtained from patients of the age group 18 to 20 years. Limitations: The study has limited sample size of 90 patients. Hence, entire spectrum of the disease and QOL correlation will not be robust. The correlation of improvement of QOL scores with therapy of acne could not evaluated. As it was a prospective, single point study, of limited duration, the improvement in the quality of life of the patients suffering from different grades of acne vulgaris, could not be assessed. Conclusions: The drug use pattern indicated that topical drugs formed a greater part of the treatment plans as compared to systemic drugs. Our study has also described the impact of acne on Quality of Life. Hence, dermatologists should be encouraged to add Quality of Life evaluations for patients with acne, since these might reveal a new facet of the disease, that is, its psychosocial impact and help intervene with more individual specific interventions
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