Acne, a chronic disease, has a varying presentation that demands long-term management. However, the clinical guidelines for acne offer limited guidance to facilitate personalized or longitudinal management of patients.

A recent study generated recommendations to support comprehensive, personalized, long-term patient management that address all presentations of acne and its current and potential future burden.

The study involved a consensus of Experts panel consisting of 13 dermatologists who used a modified Delphi approach to reach a consensus on statements related to longitudinal acne management. The consensus was described as ≥75% voting “agree” or “strongly agree", with all voting being electronic and blinded.

The results obtained were as follows-

• Key management domains, consisting of distinct considerations, points to discuss with patients, and “pivot points” were recognised and incorporated into the Personalised Acne Care Pathway.
• Long-term treatment goals and expectations and risk of (or fears about) sequelae were emphasised as extremely important to discuss frequently with patients.

However, the limitation of this study was the recommendations framed were based on expert opinion, which could potentially differ from patients′ perspectives. Furthermore, the regional variations in health care systems may not have been escaped.

The study finally concluded that the Personalised Acne Care Pathway delivers practical recommendations to facilitate the longitudinal management of acne, which can be utilized by health care professionals to optimize and personalize care throughout the patient journey.

SOURCE- Tan J, Alexis A, Baldwin H, Thiboutot D, Weiss J, Layton AM. et al. The Personalised Acne Care Pathway—Recommendations to guide longitudinal management from the Personalising Acne: Consensus of Experts. JAAD International. 2021;5:101-111. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jdin.2021.09.006