{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,15]],"date-time":"2026-10-15T11:37:45Z","timestamp":1792064265362,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,27]],"date-time":"2022-12-27T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1672099200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"King Saud university"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Medicina"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background and Objectives: In Saudi Arabia, Acne vulgaris is a very predominant ailment among adolescents, especially female university students, and self-medication has become a trend to manage this condition. To determine the prevalence of Acne vulgaris among health care students and to access the scenario of its self-medication in light of students\u2019 knowledge, attitude, and practice towards it. Materials and Methods: This was an observational study conducted at King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, from January 2022 to March 2022. The study was undertaken using a pre-structured questionnaire. Results: A total of 550 university students were recruited and the incidence of acne was observed to be 78.5% (432 out of 550) with a female predominance. A total of 56.0% (244 of 432) students used self-medications for acne without a prescription and the most used prescription drugs were topical and oral antibiotics (38.1%), followed by Isotretinoin (22.55), and topical adaplene (20.9%). Female students (n = 181, 63.5%) were significantly more likely to self-medicate compared to male students (n = 63, 42.9%, p \u2264 0.001). Almost 60% of medical students had proper knowledge of medication for acne. Conclusion: Acne vulgaris is a highly prevalent condition among university students of Saudi Arabia and use of self-medication among acne sufferers is high. Education programs should be made to raise awareness about acne and its treatment.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina59010052","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,28]],"date-time":"2022-12-28T08:38:19Z","timestamp":1672216699000},"page":"52","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":18,"title":["Prevalence and Self-Medication for Acne among Students of Health-Related Science Colleges at King Saud University in Riyadh Region Saudi Arabia"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"59","author":[{"given":"Ziyad","family":"Alrabiah","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Azher","family":"Arafah","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9995-6576","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Muneeb U.","family":"Rehman","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Salmeen D.","family":"Babelghaith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4077-4524","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Wajid","family":"Syed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fahad K.","family":"Alrashidi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fahad F.","family":"Aldajaani","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Musab A.","family":"Alsufayan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mohamed N. Al","family":"Arifi","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2022,12,27]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"792","DOI":"10.1111\/ijd.15280","article-title":"The prevalence, risk factors, and psychosocial impacts of acne vulgaris in medical students: A literature review","volume":"60","author":"Sachdeva","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Dermatol."},{"key":"ref_2","first-page":"13","article-title":"The epidemiology of acne vulgaris in late adolescence","volume":"7","author":"Lynn","year":"2016","journal-title":"Adolesc. Health Med. 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