The influence of social media on the treatment and psychosocial of acne vulgaris patient

Introduction: Many social media platforms are available today that can facilitate social interaction and potentially affect health behavior. Social media can potentially serve as a source of information about how to treat acne. They can also be a tool to compare and raise dissatisfaction with their body image. Acne is a skin condition that primarily affects the face and can lead to significant psychosocial effects. Methods: This study was a descriptive observational study with a cross-sectional design that included 50 subjects with acne vulgaris according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Basic data were recorded, including age, gender, education and job. Social media usage data were recorded, including actively used social media platforms and duration of use. Acne vulgaris treatment used by the subject based on information obtained from social media was recorded. Psychosocial was assessed using Acne-QoL-INA and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale questionnaire. Result: In this study, acne vulgaris was more common in women and the 18-25 age group, where most subjects had higher education and student group. Instagram was the social media used daily by most acne vulgaris patients. Instagram was also the most used social media to access regarding therapy for acne vulgaris and was mostly used 1 hour per day. The subject used skin care to treat their acne, followed by topical agents and practicing instruction to heal acne. The influence of social media on the quality of life showed the lowest score range (0-10) on self-perception, role-social and role-emotional domain, on the acne symptoms domain was in the middle score range (11-20). Social media's influence on self-esteem shows 6% on low self-esteem, followed by 94% in the normal score range. Conclusion: Using social media could encourage patients with acne to seek self-medication, mostly use skincare and have a psychosocial impact on patient's quality of life.