Disease State: Acne

Background

Acne is among the most common inflammatory dermatoses seen globally. It is well recognized that outcome measures used to assess the effectiveness of acne treatments are heterogeneous and inconsistently applied. There is a lack of both standardization and harmonization in their use. Since the early trials of the 1960s and 1970s, the focus has been on physician-assessed measures such as lesion counts and global severity scales. Instruments that assess impact of acne on patients have been utilized in more recent clinical trials. These have included generic, dermatology specific, and acne-specific quality of life scales. It is not currently known whether any of these measures is fit-for-purpose, in that they reproducibly measure what matters most to patients with acne, they are responsive to change, or they reflect those outcomes which patients instinctively use to self-assess how well a treatment is working.

Project Goal

The Acne Core Outcomes Research Network (ACORN) aims to establish a COS for interventional trials in acne. To date, consensus on the core domain set has been established and further work is underway to develop the core measures set. Instruments are in various stages of review or development, and these include measures for signs and symptoms, dark marks and scars, satisfaction with treatment, long term acne control, and health-related quality of life and satisfaction with appearance.  

Project Leads

Satisfaction treatment received:

 Long-term acne control:  Health-related quality of life:  Extent of scars/dark marks:  Signs and Symptoms:  Satisfaction with Appearance:  

Key Project Team Members

C³ Methods Partner

 

Collaborators 

The Centre for Appearance Research collaborates on the satisfaction with appearance domain

Amy Slater

Heidi Williamson

Leeds Beckett University, Leeds School of Social Sciences, UK collaborates on some of the PROMS

Georgina Jones

Sarah Evans

Patient Partners

Irene Soulsby

 

Contact

Alison Layton, alisong.layton@nhs.net

 

Publications

Hopkins, Zachary H., MD; Thiboutot, Diane, MD; Homsi, Haya A, MD, MPH; Lourdes Maria, Perez Chada, MD; Barbieri, John, MD, MBA. Patient-reported outcome measures for health-related quality of life in acne vulgaris: a systematic review of measure development and measurement properties. In Progress

Layton AM, Thiboutot D, Tan J. Reviewing the global burden of acne: how could we improve care to reduce the burden? Br J Dermatol. 2021;184(2):219-225. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32770673/

 

Tan J, Thiboutot D., Layton A., Miklas M. (2021) Developing a Core Outcome Set for Acne Clinical Trials: Towards Standardization and Harmonization. In: Suh D.H. (eds) Acne. Updates in Clinical Dermatology. Springer

Smith H, Layton AM, Thiboutot D, Smith A, Whitehouse H, Ghumra W, Verma M, Tan J, Jones G, Gilliland K, Patel M, Otchere E, Eady A. Identifying the Impacts of Acne and the Use of Questionnaires to Detect These Impacts: A Systematic Literature Review. Am J Clin Dermatol. 2021;22(2):159-171. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33175359/

 

van Zuuren EJ, Arents BWM, Miklas M, Schoones JW, Tan J. Identifying and appraising patient-reported outcome measures on treatment satisfaction in acne: a systematic review. Br J Dermatol. 2021;185(1):36-51. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33176002/

 

van Zuuren EJ, Arents BWM, Vermeulen S, Tan J. Harmonizing Measurement of Satisfaction With Acne Scar Treatments: Can We All Sing the Same Tune? Dermatol Surg. 2021;47(9):1323-1324. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34148997/

 

Updated on May 1, 2022