Less confident, successful and happy: patients with post-acne hyperpigmentation are stigmatized.

Abstract

Stigmatization is a major issue for individuals with acne. Using a simple but expressive study design and a large sample representative of the German general population, this study showed that individuals with residual post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation (PIH) are stigmatized by the general population even in the absence of active lesions, prolonging the mental burden of acne. Considering that PIH can take years to fade, the results of this study underline the importance of preventing and treating PIH to reduce the mental burden for the affected individuals.