Association Between Acne Vulgaris and Body Mass Index - A Cross Sectional Study in Tertiary Hospital of Western Nepal

Abstract

INTRODUCTION Acne vulgaris is a chronic inflammatory disease of pilosebaceous duct mainly affecting adolescents. There is conflicting data regarding association between acne and body mass index (BMI). The main objective was to find the association between different grades of acne and BMI. MATERIAL AND METHODS We conducted a cross-sectional observational study involving 251 patients with acne vulgaris. Severity of acne vulgaris was assessed using simple grading system and WHO reference was used for classification of body mass index (BMI). Data was analyzed using SPSS, version 20. p value of less than 0.05 was considered statically significant. RESULTS The study included 149 females (59.4%) and 102 males (40.6%). Acne vulgaris is recorded in 47.8% in age group12-20 years, followed by 44.6% in age group 21-30 years and 7.6% in age group 31-40 years. Grade 2 acne vulgaris was the most common (47%), followed by grade 3 (24.7%), grade1 (16.7%), and grade 4 (11.6%). About 49.4% of acne vulgaris patient had normal BMI, 19.5% had obesity. There was no significant association between different grades of acne vulgaris and BMI (p=0.07). CONCLUSION There was no signficant association beween severetiy of acne and BMI.