Acne among Patients Visiting Outpatient Department of Dermatology Centres.

Introduction: Acne vulgaris is a common chronic inflammatory skin disease affecting the pilosebaceous unit. The clinical manifestations of acne include the development of comedones, papules, and pustules. Although generally considered benign, acne can have psychological impacts and cause disfiguring scars. The aim of this study was to find out the prevalence of acne among patients visiting outpatient department of dermatology centres. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among patients visiting tertiary care skin centres from 15 June 2023 to 15 August 2023. The ethical approval was obtained from the Institutional Review Committee. The severity of acne severity and scarring was determined. A convenience sampling method was used. The point estimate was calculated at a 95% Confidence Interval. Results: Among 2036 patients, acne was found in 386 (18.96%) (17.26-20.66, 95% Confidence Interval). The majority of participants have acne scar grade 2 (65.20%). Conclusions: The prevalence of acne among patients was found to be higher than in other studies done in similar settings. Keywords: acne; scars; prevalence.

Sputum Smear Non-conversion at the End of Intensive Phase of Tuberculosis Treatment at a Tertiary Center: A Descriptive Cross-sectional study.

INTRODUCTION: Sputum non-conversion is smear positive tuberculosis despite anti-tubercular therapy. Various factors may lead to sputum non-conversion including resistance to anti-tubercular drugs, age, gender, disease severity, non-compliance, drugs unavailability etc. Little is known and studied about the contribution of these individual factors. Our study sought to determine the prevalence of sputum smear non-conversion in patients at the end of intensive phase of tuberculosis treatment visiting a tertiary-level institution in Nepal. METHODS: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among recorded data of patients undergoing sputum Acid Fast Bacilli staining at the end of intensive phase at National Tuberculosis Control Center from April 2018 to April 2020. The study was approved by Nepal Health Research Council (Registration no: 76012020 P). The convenient sampling method was adopted. The data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. RESULTS: Our study found that out of 830 samples that were tested by Acid Fast Bacilli stain at the end of intensive phase, 40 (4.82%) (3.37-6.28 at 95% Confidence Interval) were sputum smear non-converters. The mean age of sputum non-converters was 41.25±15.543 years. CONCLUSIONS: The study shows that a significant proportion of patients remain acid-fast stain positive despite the treatment. However, the proportion is low compared to other similar studies around the globe. This study provides program managers with evidence to support the development of more tailored tuberculosis care and need to conduct more intensive studies about various factors that may lead to non-conversion.