Journal of

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Background and Aim: High consumption of cosmetic products may result in several health problems. Cosmetics use among Iranian girls and women is common, so identifying factors affecting cosmetic use seems necessary. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and reasons for cosmetic products use among female university students.

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Background and Aim: Vitiligo and acne are common chronic skin diseases with cosmetic impacts affecting various aspects of quality of life. This research was done to study the quality of life in these patients and their related factors. Methods: This cross-sectinal study was carried out on 132 patients with vitiligo and 136 patients with acne. The patients were asked to answer questionnaires including questions about their demographic and clinical information as well as questionnaire of Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI). SpSS version 16 was used to statistically describe and test the data. Results: The mean±standard deviation (SD) ages of patients with vitiligo and acne, were 22.8±5.7 and 28.9±11.5 years, respectively. The proportions of female patients with vitiligo and acne were 54.5% and 83.8%, respectively. Patients were matched for age and gender. There was no statically significant differrence between the mean DLQI score and age, martial status, occupation, residence, education, age of onset of disease in neither group. Patients with more chronic vitiligo experienced significantly impaired quality of life (P=0.008). A statistically differrence was found between mean DLQI scores and clinical forms of vitiligo. The mean scores of patients with generalized type was higher than those with localized forms (P=0.032). Patients with severe acne experienced significantly impaired quality of life (P=0.002). The mean DLQI scores in vitiligo and acne were 6.75 and 7.05, respectively, but this differrence was not statistically significant (P=0.08). A statistically significant difference was found in two subgroup: in symptoms and feelings (P=0.002) and interpersonal relationships (P=0.02). Conclusion: The quality of lifves of patients were affecteded by the type of disease, its severity and its duration in both groups.

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Background and Aim: Acne vulgaris is one of the most common skin disorders, affecting more than eighty percent of individuals around puberty. Because of the adverse effects on the patient’s appearance, the disease may have detrimental psychological impacts such as low self-esteem and social isolation. The aim of the present study was to evaluate factors affecting self-esteem in patients with acne vulgaris in Hamadan.

Methods: Patients with acne vulgaris referred to the  dermatology clinic of Hamadan’s Sina Hospital (as the case group), and their healthy accompanying persons (as the control group) were included in the study. After obtaining written informed consent, demographic dat

a were recorded and participants were asked to fill out a questionnaire. To assess the severity of acne, Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) was used. In addition, Coopersmith Inventory was applied to measure the self-esteem of the participants. In data were analyzed using STATA 14.0 software.

Results: Overall, 184 patients with acne and 177 controls were included in this study. The mean age of patients and controls was 17.89+3.13 and 17.72+2.94, respectively. Independent samples t-test showed that the mean Self-Esteem Index of patients was significantly lower than controls (32.04+8.29 vs. 34.85+7.73, P<0.001). The severity of acne was inversely correlated with self-esteem; one score increase in GAGS would result in 0.1 unit decrease in self-esteem index (P<0.001).

Conclusion: Acne vulgaris is associated with low self-esteem and the severity of acne is inversely correlated with self-esteem level.