Some pathophysiological and psychological characteristics and quality of life in adolescent girls with acne vulgaris in modern conditions

Abstract

The aim of the study was to establish the characteristics of the sympathoadrenal, vagoinsular and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal systems, anxiety and quality of life in adolescent girls with acne vulgaris in modern conditions. Methods. 63 adolescent girls with acne vulgaris who consulted a dermatologist and 35 healthy individuals were examined in 2013; similar groups were formed in 2023 during martial law in the country: the study group—38 adolescent girls with manifestations of acne vulgaris who consulted a dermatologist and 32 healthy individuals (control group). To assess the severity of acne vulgaris, the Investigator’s Global Assessment scale was used; to assess anxiety, the Spielberger scale, and to assess quality of life, the Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and the O.S. Chaban Quality of Life Scale (CQLS) were used. In sick and healthy adolescent girls, the excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline in daily urine, the concentration of insulin, cortisol, testosterone, free testosterone, androstenedione, estradiol, and progesterone in the blood were determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method. Study results were statistically processed using standard computer software using the paired Student’s t-test with the calculation of the arithmetic mean (M) and the standard error of the arithmetic mean (m) or the Wilcoxon signed-rank test, depending on the normality of the distribution of differences. The normality of data distribution was checked using the Shapiro-Wilk test at a significance level of 0.01. When using all statistical methods, except for the Shapiro-Wilk test, the significance level was taken to be 0.05; the difference between the data was considered significant at p < 0.05. To determine structural relationships, correlation analysis was used, determining pair correlation coefficients—r. Results. A statistically significant increase in the level of situational anxiety in healthy adolescent girls in modern conditions was established, which has increased even more in recent years.