Most people with acne use social media to find medical information

Almost half of all people living with acne turn to social media and the internet to find information about their skin condition.

That’s one finding of a Turkish study that investigated the social media habits of almost 1,500 individuals with acne.

Melek Aslan Kayıran and colleagues found that of the 1,489 individuals who used social media, 46% regularly and 28% sometimes turned to various social platforms to find out about acne.

Social media usage among people with acne was significantly higher in women, people with short-term and severe disease, those with a moderate income, and those using topical treatment and cosmetics.

Individuals were unlikely to discuss the information with their doctor, and preferred to read content created by dermatologists. Of the people who participated in the study:

• 76% said they did not share information they found on the internet with their doctor

• 19% had tried to contact their dermatologist online

• 70% said they would prefer if experts such as dermatologists posted acne-related content online

“Our study shows that people frequently resorted to social media to seek information about AV (acne vulgaris),” wrote the authors, from Istanbul Medeniyet University.

With the ever-growing presence of social platforms, there is a need for dermatologists to use these platforms to share accurate information about acne, they said.

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