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.


CONCLUSIONS
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.
Stern
R S
RS
Department of Dermatology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02215-5491, USA. rstern@caregroup.harvard.edu
D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017677:Age Distribution; D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D015474:Isotretinoin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009819:Office Visits / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017678:Sex Distribution; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology
D000900:Anti-Bacterial Agents; D015474:Isotretinoin