Prevalence and Self-Medication for Acne among Students of Health-Related Science Colleges at King Saud University in Riyadh Region Saudi Arabia.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Alrabiah, Ziyad Arafah, Azher Rehman, Muneeb U. Babelghaith, Salmeen D. Syed, Wajid Alrashidi, Fahad K. Aldajaani, Fahad F. Alsufayan, Musab A. Arifi, Mohamed N. Al
Editor	Alaibac, Mauro Salvatore Alessandro
Copyright Year	2022
Abstract	Background and Objectives: In Saudi Arabia, Acne vulgaris is a very predominant ailment among adolescents, especially female university students, and self-medication has become a trend to manage this condition. To determine the prevalence of Acne vulgaris among health care students and to access the scenario of its self-medication in light of students’ knowledge, attitude, and practice towards it. Materials and Methods: This was an observational study conducted at King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January 2022 to March 2022. The study was undertaken using a pre-structured questionnaire. Results: A total of 550 university students were recruited and the incidence of acne was observed to be 78.5% (432 out of 550) with a female predominance. A total of 56.0% (244 of 432) students used self-medications for acne without a prescription and the most used prescription drugs were topical and oral antibiotics (38.1%), followed by Isotretinoin (22.55), and topical adaplene (20.9%). Female students (n = 181, 63.5%) were significantly more likely to self-medicate compared to male students (n = 63, 42.9%, p ≤ 0.001). Almost 60% of medical students had proper knowledge of medication for acne. Conclusion: Acne vulgaris is a highly prevalent condition among university students of Saudi Arabia and use of self-medication among acne sufferers is high. Education programs should be made to raise awareness about acne and its treatment.
ISSN	1010660X
Journal	Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
Volume Number	59
PubMed Central reference number	PMC9863386
Issue Number	1
PubMed reference number	36676676
e-ISSN	16489144
DOI	10.3390/medicina59010052
Language	English
Publisher	MDPI
Publisher Date	2022-12-27
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). © 2022 by the authors.
Subject Keyword	acne self-medication university students Saudi Arabia
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine