BACKGROUND: Some cosmetics used for treating acne are considered as cosmeceuticals. Consequently, patients with acne are now more likely to perceive such products as actual treatments. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate the awareness and use of cosmetics for acne and to compare them with hospital treatments in terms of efficacy and safety. METHODS: We surveyed patients who presented at the National Medical Center for acne treatment. We collected data on demographics, hospital treatments, kinds of cosmetics for acne, awareness and use of cosmetics for acne, efficacy and adverse effects (cosmetics for acne vs. hospital treatments), and overall patient satisfaction. RESULTS: Of 101 enrolled participants, 94 (mean [SD] age, 25.6 [6.5] years; 59 women) were analyzed. Seventy-one (75.5%) patients used cosmetics for acne. Only 30% perceived that cosmetics for acne were insufficient to treat acne, whereas 45~55% deemed cosmetics for acne as applicable replacements for topical and oral treatments. The participants rated their improvement to be significantly better with hospital treatments than with cosmetics for acne (much improved: 45.1% vs. 2.8%, became worse: 1.4% vs. 8.5%, p<0.01). There were significantly fewer adverse events after hospital treatments than after use of cosmetics for acne. The overall satisfaction scores were significantly higher with hospital treatments than with cosmetics for acne. CONCLUSION: Patients with acne mistakenly believe that cosmetics for acne can replace topical and oral treatments. Dermatologists should disseminate information and educate patients about the proper treatments for acne. Moreover, it is desirable to exclude the word “acne” from the name of cosmeceuticals.
Acne Vulgaris ; Cosmeceuticals ; Demography ; Humans ; Patient Satisfaction