Objective. This study was conducted to assess the knowledge, beliefs, and psychosocial effect of acne vulgaris among acne patients attending referral dermatology clinic in Al-Khobar city. Material and Methods. A cross-sectional study was conducted on all Saudi acne patients (males and females) attending referral dermatology clinic in Al-Khobar Governmental Hospital. The data were collected by using a structured self-administered questionnaire. Results. Like other studies conducted before, we found that 58.33% of our sample have poor knowledge about factors that affect acne vulgaris with a significant correlation with both age and gender ( and resp.). There was significant association of reporting affected social activities with age and educational level ( and resp.). Variation between both genders regarding reporting feeling stressed due to acne was significant ( ). The majority of our sample sought medical advice after one year. The most commonly used treatment for acne vulgaris before seeking medical help was peeling products. The majority of our patients thought that acne needs no treatment by physicians. Doctors' treatment is considered guaranteed and safe by the vast majority of our patients. Conclusion. This study showed that knowledge about acne is still insufficient among acne patients. 1. Introduction Acne vulgaris is an extremely common disorder. Prevalence of acne varies among different populations in different studies from 50% [1, 2] to 80% [3–5]. There is general recognition that there are many factors in the etiology of acne vulgaris [6]. Causes could be attributed to both genetic and environmental factors. There is familial predisposition of severe forms of acne that support a genetic component. Acne usually occurs around puberty but it may start late in the thirties and forties (in adulthood) [5, 7, 8]. It takes several years before spontaneous remission [5]. Prognosis of the disease is usually good but, as a chronic disease, relapses even during treatment could occur. It can remit spontaneously [9]. Few studies are interested in exploring knowledge and experiences of acne patients towards acne [10]. In a study that was conducted by Brajac et al. (2004) they found that “Acne was considered as a trivial and transitory condition by 52% of the acne patients and 44% of the family physicians” [11]. Students had misconceptions regarding the causes of acne [2]. Not only the knowledge about acne causes that is lacked, but also natural course and therapy were very low, and it has been found among patients of all ages, physicians, and nurses as
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