ABSTRACT
Background/Objectives: Acne is a common inflammatory skin disorder in both adolescence and adulthood. Facial and truncal acne adversely impact emotional well-being and daily activities. Acne sufferer perspectives were investigated to understand disease burden and psychosocial impact associated with acne and video calling during COVID-19, as little information exists on acne’s burden and psychosocial impact specifically related to video calls. Methods: A United States quantitative email survey (N = 2000) was administered by Wakefield Research December 4th-15th, 2020. Respondents were ages 14 29 with self-reported moderate facial and/or truncal acne. Results: During COVID-19, 91% (N = 2000) of participants used video calling. Adults ≥ 21 years reported more time than participants < 21 years preparing video call appearance (24 vs. 19 average minutes, respectively). 65% reported planning appearance before a video call. 27% of women reported concealing acne during video calls all the time. 86% indicated ≥1 instance of missed conversation caused by the distraction of assessing acne on screen (13% ‘all the time’, 24% ‘often’). More participants felt comfortable with others seeing facial acne (64%) than truncal (36%) during a video call. Conclusions: Video calling in truncal and facial acne is associated with increased quality of life burden, daily activity adjustments, and anxiety in minors and adults. Survey participants reported milder disease;thus, lost professional and educational opportunities would presumably be greater with more severe acne. Ability to assess patients effectively and provide optimum treatment may be impacted by occlusive behaviors and further add to the burden of their disease.