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Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Background The association between isotretinoin administration and depression in acne patients remains controversial. We aim to estimate the prevalence of depression among patients with acne vulgaris before and after treatment with isotretinoin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a prospective...

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Autor principal: AlGhofaili, Fatimah A
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Cureus 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8018872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33833906
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.13680
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author AlGhofaili, Fatimah A
author_facet AlGhofaili, Fatimah A
author_sort AlGhofaili, Fatimah A
collection PubMed
description Background The association between isotretinoin administration and depression in acne patients remains controversial. We aim to estimate the prevalence of depression among patients with acne vulgaris before and after treatment with isotretinoin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a prospective study on patients attending the King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), a tertiary institution, who were prescribed isotretinoin for the treatment of acne vulgaris for the first time. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to screen for depressive symptoms.  Results A total of 179 patients were included in the study. The patients were then divided into two groups based on the treatment modality that they received: one group taking isotretinoin and the other treatment group who used other medications, including Retin-A (tretinoin) and Tazorac (tazarotene). A total of 119 patients were in the isotretinoin group with 91.6%, 2.5%, 1.7%, and 3.4% of those patients having a normal mood, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression scores before starting isotretinoin treatment, respectively. After three months of treatment, 94.1%, 1.7%, 0.8%, and 2.5% of patients had normal mood, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression, respectively. Meanwhile, after six months of treatment, 95.8%, 0.8%, 0%, and 1.7% of patients had normal mood, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression, respectively. The mean BDI score at the baseline was 3.31 ± 6.98 for isotretinoin and 3.17 ± 6.27 for other treatments. Compared to the baseline, patients using the isotretinoin showed a significant reduction in depression scores at three months (2.64 ± 6.17; p-value < 0.001), six months (1.99 ± 5.08; p-value < 0.001), and across all follow-up points (p-value < 0.001). Similar results were also estimated for the other treatment group, including Retin-A (tretinoin), adapalene, benzoyl peroxide, and doxycycline; however, no significant difference was noticed between the two groups (p-value = 0.885). Conclusion Isotretinoin treatment for acne does not appear to be associated with a statistically significant increased risk of depression in our population. Therefore, more studies are needed to understand this reflection in Saudi Arabia.
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spelling pubmed-80188722021-04-07 Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia AlGhofaili, Fatimah A Cureus Dermatology Background The association between isotretinoin administration and depression in acne patients remains controversial. We aim to estimate the prevalence of depression among patients with acne vulgaris before and after treatment with isotretinoin in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Methods This was a prospective study on patients attending the King Khalid University Hospital (KKUH), a tertiary institution, who were prescribed isotretinoin for the treatment of acne vulgaris for the first time. The Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) was used to screen for depressive symptoms.  Results A total of 179 patients were included in the study. The patients were then divided into two groups based on the treatment modality that they received: one group taking isotretinoin and the other treatment group who used other medications, including Retin-A (tretinoin) and Tazorac (tazarotene). A total of 119 patients were in the isotretinoin group with 91.6%, 2.5%, 1.7%, and 3.4% of those patients having a normal mood, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression scores before starting isotretinoin treatment, respectively. After three months of treatment, 94.1%, 1.7%, 0.8%, and 2.5% of patients had normal mood, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression, respectively. Meanwhile, after six months of treatment, 95.8%, 0.8%, 0%, and 1.7% of patients had normal mood, mild depression, moderate depression, and severe depression, respectively. The mean BDI score at the baseline was 3.31 ± 6.98 for isotretinoin and 3.17 ± 6.27 for other treatments. Compared to the baseline, patients using the isotretinoin showed a significant reduction in depression scores at three months (2.64 ± 6.17; p-value < 0.001), six months (1.99 ± 5.08; p-value < 0.001), and across all follow-up points (p-value < 0.001). Similar results were also estimated for the other treatment group, including Retin-A (tretinoin), adapalene, benzoyl peroxide, and doxycycline; however, no significant difference was noticed between the two groups (p-value = 0.885). Conclusion Isotretinoin treatment for acne does not appear to be associated with a statistically significant increased risk of depression in our population. Therefore, more studies are needed to understand this reflection in Saudi Arabia. Cureus 2021-03-03 /pmc/articles/PMC8018872/ /pubmed/33833906 http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.13680 Text en Copyright © 2021, AlGhofaili et al. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Dermatology
AlGhofaili, Fatimah A
Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_full Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_fullStr Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_full_unstemmed Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_short Isotretinoin Use and Risk of Depression in Acne Vulgaris Patients in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
title_sort isotretinoin use and risk of depression in acne vulgaris patients in riyadh, saudi arabia
topic Dermatology
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8018872/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33833906
http://dx.doi.org/10.7759/cureus.13680
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