Abstract
Background Despite being the first-line treatment for severe or moderate acne, isotretinoin has several serious side effects that necessitate the evaluation of patients' knowledge about isotretinoin side effects and its proper use. Objective The current study aim was to explore information needs about isotretinoin by evaluating patients' knowledge about the appropriate use of isotretinoin and its associated side effects. Methods In addition to the sociodemographic variables, a validated online questionnaire was adopted from the literature to evaluate patients' knowledge about isotretinoin use and its potential side effects. Independent t-test and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) test were implemented to find the correlation between the study variables and the knowledge score. Results The most recognized side effect of isotretinoin therapy was dryness (98.1%). The study patients showed good knowledge about isotretinoin use with a mean knowledge score of 8.1 (SD = 0.7). However, more than half of them (61.0%) mistakenly thought that isotretinoin therapy should be taken continuously for more than 6 months without stop, and some of them did not know that isotretinoin is recommended to be taken with fatty meal (24%) and sunblock (24.6%). Female gender (8.2 (SD = 0.8)) and using isotretinoin for more than 6 months (8.3 (SD = 1.2)) were significantly associated with a higher knowledge score of isotretinoin use (p=0.01), when compared with male patients (7.8 (SD = 0.7)) and less than 6-month use of isotretinoin (7.7 (SD = 0.7)). Conclusions The lack of patients' information about the potential side effects, duration of therapy, and some instructions on isotretinoin use, such as taking the medication with fatty meal and sunblock, shed the light on the necessity to prepare leaflets, educational brochures, and educational posts via social media in order to improve patients' knowledge about isotretinoin therapy and its optimal use.
Highlights
As stated by the Global Burden of Disease study, acne vulgaris (AV) affects about 85% of individuals between the ages of 12 and 25 years, and its effect extends to younger children [1, 2]
Most patients do not have enough knowledge about the potential side effects of isotretinoin and how to deal with them, and there are no specific risk minimization tools other than the warnings in the product leaflet [9], which increase the chance of unwanted adverse effects [6, 10, 11]
Another study conducted in Saudi Arabia reported that patients who were prescribed isotretinoin were not sufficiently aware of its International Journal of Clinical Practice proper use [12]
Summary
As stated by the Global Burden of Disease study, acne vulgaris (AV) affects about 85% of individuals between the ages of 12 and 25 years, and its effect extends to younger children [1, 2]. A recent Saudi study reported that more than half of the patients did not recognize hyperlipidemia as a side effect of isotretinoin. Despite being the first-line treatment for severe or moderate acne, isotretinoin has several serious side effects that necessitate the evaluation of patients’ knowledge about isotretinoin side effects and its proper use. E current study aim was to explore information needs about isotretinoin by evaluating patients’ knowledge about the appropriate use of isotretinoin and its associated side effects. E lack of patients’ information about the potential side effects, duration of therapy, and some instructions on isotretinoin use, such as taking the medication with fatty meal and sunblock, shed the light on the necessity to prepare leaflets, educational brochures, and educational posts via social media in order to improve patients’ knowledge about isotretinoin therapy and its optimal use Conclusions. e lack of patients’ information about the potential side effects, duration of therapy, and some instructions on isotretinoin use, such as taking the medication with fatty meal and sunblock, shed the light on the necessity to prepare leaflets, educational brochures, and educational posts via social media in order to improve patients’ knowledge about isotretinoin therapy and its optimal use
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