Validation of the Cardiff acne disability index and the impact of educational materials in a Romanian cultural adaptation context.

BACKGROUND: Acne has a high impact on patients being a chronic, common, and visible skin condition. Knowledge regarding treatment improves outcomes. The Cardiff Acne Disability Index (CADI) is commonly used in clinical practice for quality-of-life assessment. It has been validated in many languages, however, not in Romanian. AIMS: To validate the Romanian adaptation of the CADI and educational materials for acne patients. PATIENTS AND METHOD: A 12-week prospective cross-sectional Web-based study, including 3rd- to 5th-year medical students attending our university was conducted. We obtained permission from the CADI copyright owner and performed the steps of the standardized translation process. The Romanian CADI adaptation was delivered online in a test-retest setup, during which participants were offered acne educational materials and completed a knowledge evaluation questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 95 complete answers were analyzed. The Romanian CADI adaptation showed good internal consistency, with Cronbach's α = 0.807 in the first application and Cronbach's α = 0.839 in the second. High test-retest reliability was observed, with interclass correlation coefficient ICC = 0.987 and Spearman's rank correlation coefficient rs  = 0.970 for the overall CADI scores between the two administrations. The mean baseline score in the knowledge evaluation questionnaire was 15.52 points (±1.556), with a statistically significant improvement after exposure to the educational material (Z = -7.207, p < 0.001). This material was considered useful or very useful by 78(82.8%) participants. CONCLUSION: Romanian acne patients can benefit from CADI, a reliable and disease-specific tool for quality-of-life evaluation, together with validated, guideline-aligned educational material in their language.

Acne care in health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: A national survey.

The medical face mask, widely used by health care providers (HCPs) during the COVID-19 pandemic, is reported to be associated with adverse reactions, among which acne is one of the most common. This study aims to evaluate treatment strategies employed by HCPs affected by acne in association with prolonged medical face mask use, their openness towards accessing telemedicine as a patient, and other lifestyle factors with potential influence on the evolution of their acne. Our online-based cross-sectional survey was distributed between December 17, 2020, and February 17, 2021, and targeted HCPs from different medical centers in Romania. From the n = 134 respondents, 50% reported current acne lesions and 56.7% required treatment. Of the latter, 65.8% self-medicated and 34.2% sought medical advice. The most common treatment associations between anti-acne topical products were: retinoids and salicylic acid (18.18%; n = 8), retinoids and benzoyl peroxide (13.64%; n = 6), salicylic acid and benzoyl peroxide (13.64%; n = 6), and azelaic acid together with salicylic acid (9.09%; n = 4). The health care provider responders were reluctant to use telemedicine, as only 14.2% participants were open to telemedicine. Our results suggest inadequate management of acne in HCPs using medical face masks. As with other occupational hazards and proper usage of personal protective equipment, HCPs should receive adequate screening, training, and treatment for this condition.