Cognitive status of Chinese acne patients and its influencing factors

Objective To indentify the cognitive status of Chinese patients to acne and the influencing factors to theirs＇ cognitive status, so as to provide solid evidences for the prevention and treatment of acne. Methods A self-designed questionnaire was made to conduct this survey of 16, 156 acne patients, who seeked to the treatment in the dermatological departments from 112 hospitals in China. The survey consisted of several parts, including the general status of patients, the patients＇ cognition of occurrence, development and risk factors of acne, whether the first choice was seeking treatment at the hospital when the patients had acne and the condition of selection of skin care products. The factors were analyzed, which could impact the cognition of the patients＇ behavior of treatment, how did the patients＇ cognition to influence their medical behavior and skin care as well as the consistency of assessment of the severity of acne by doctors and patients themselves. Results The acne patients studied had the best knowledge of acne is a skin , it not only occurs in the period of adolescence and the disease can be prevented and cured , which accordingly accounted for 80.65%, 69.16% and 65.49% of the total patients respectively. However, the awareness of acne patients to heredity, high sugar and dairy products as risk factors for acne was insufficient, which accounted for 48.72%, 42.40% and 18.25% of the total patients, respectively. Gender, age, educational level, occupation and health knowledge were the main factors affecting the cognitive level of patients; the survey also found that men, patient with educational level of junior high or even lower educational condition, occupation of labor workers or farmers and patients were lack of health education with poor knowledge of the genetics and dietary were risk factors for acne; patients with age over 36 years or with mild illness had poor knowledge of dietary risk factors for acne; the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The analysis of the influence of cognitive status on medical treatment behavior and skin care showed that the better the cognition, the higher the probability of patients would choose medical treatment as the first choice as well as choosing functional skin care products; the difference was statistically significant (P<0.05). The consistency of assessment of the severity of acne by doctors and patients was poor (Kappa value <0.4), and the assessment of severity of acne by patients was more serious than doctors＇ assessment. Conclusions Patient＇s cognitive status will affect their medical behavior and skin care, and there is also a phenomenon that patients have a more serious assessment of their acne condition. It is suggested that health education for acne patients should be strengthened in clinical medicine so as to improve their knowledge of acne as well as preventing from acne effectively. Key words: Acne vulgaris; Questionnaires; Cognition; Epidemiology; Influencing factors