title: Acne smart club: an educational program for patients with acne.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate adherence to therapy in acne patients using mobile phones and Short Message Service (SMS) to communicate.
  
  
  METHODS
  160 patients were randomly assigned to two groups: the SMS group received 2 text messages twice a day for a period of 12 weeks; the control group did not receive any messages. Before and after 12 weeks, the following evaluations were performed in all patients: digital photographs, the Global Acne Grading System, the Dermatology Life Quality Index, the Cardiff Acne Disability Index, the doctor-patient relationship evaluated through the Patient-Doctor Depth-of-Relationship Scale, and the adherence to treatment evaluated by asking patients how many days a week they had followed the therapy. For statistical analysis we used Student's t test.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The SMS group had a better improvement of all parameters compared to the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Adherence and compliance are higher for patients who are included in a strategy of control.
authors.affiliation: Section of Dermatology, Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, University Federico II, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Gabriella
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Fabbrocini
authors.forename: Rosanna
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Izzo
authors.forename: Marianna
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Donnarumma
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Marasca
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Monfrecola
mesh_terms: D000152:Acne Vulgaris / Q000628:therapy*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D040421:Cell Phone; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D010865:Pilot Projects; D015397:Program Evaluation / Q000379:methods*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D060145:Text Messaging; D055815:Young Adult