Social Appearance Anxiety in Adult Patients with Acne: A Cross-Sectional Study

The severity of acne may not directly reflect the psychological state of a patient. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the social appearance anxiety with overall morbidity in patients with acne. One hundred adult patients with acne and 67 age and sex-matched healthy controls were enrolled in the study. The patients and controls were asked to complete the Social Appearance Anxiety Scale (SAAS) and the General Health Questionnaire-12 (GHQ-12). Acne severity was evaluated objectively by the Global Acne Grading System (GAGS) and subjectively by the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). The mean score on SAAS (37.69 +/- 13.53; mean +/- Standard deviation) was significantly higher than in the control group (32.48 +/- 9.34) (p=0.05). No significant difference was observed between the GHQ-12 scores of the acne (2.19 +/- 2.64) and the control group (1.63 +/- 2.2) (p=0.152). There was no correlation between the GAGS and the VAS (p=0.417). The SAAS scores of the patients with acne were correlated with the GAGS scores (p=0.05) but not correlated with VAS (p=0.481). The GHQ-12 scores were not correlated with GAGS (p=0.96) or with VAS (p=507). No statistical correlation was established between sex and the GAGS scores (p=0.385), SAAS scores (p=0.611), and GHQ-12 scores (p=0.196). The duration of acne was not correlated with SAAS scores (p=0.814) or with GHQ-12 scores (p=0.24). Social appearance anxiety is significant in adult patients with acne and it is correlated with objective acne severity. However, acne does not seem to be associated with substantial psychological distress or formal psychiatric disorder in adults.