Medication and medical service utilization for acne 1995-1998.

BACKGROUND

Acne occurs in most persons sometime during adolescence or early adulthood and is a frequent reason for visits to dermatologists and for prescription drug therapy.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study was to analyze changes in the utilization of physician services and medications for the treatment of acne.

METHODS

An analysis was performed of data from two US federal surveys of outpatient physician services and prescribing for the years 1980 to 1997 and two commercial sources of drug prescription data for 1996 to 1998. From these data, I estimated visits for acne and drugs prescribed during these visits.

RESULTS

Visits for women principally for acne are about 80% more frequent than those for men. Each year 5 million prescriptions for oral antibiotics and 1.4 million prescriptions for isotretinoin are dispensed for the treatment of acne.

CONCLUSION

Substantial health care resources are devoted to the treatment of acne, with women particularly likely to continue to frequently utilize these services after 19 years of age.