Oral Contraceptives for Acne Treatment: US Dermatologists’ Knowledge, Comfort, and Prescribing Practices
The use of oral contraceptive pills (OCPs), which can be an effective treatment of acne in women, is poorly understood among many dermatologists. In this study, we surveyed 116 US dermatologists about their knowledge, comfort, and prescribing practices pertaining to the use of OCPs. The majority of respondents had previously prescribed OCPs and believed they were an effective treatment of acne in women. Despite adverse effects such as increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) associated with OCPs, especially those containing drospirenone, our study indicated that many dermatologists believe the benefits of increased treatment efficacy may outweigh the risks.
Practice Points
- In prior reports, oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) were found to be as effective as systemic antibiotics in reducing acne lesion counts at 6 months of treatment.
- Most dermatologists have prescribed OCPs and most believed they were an effective treatment for acne in women.
Conclusion
This study demonstrates that dermatologists believe OCPs effectively treat acne in women and that most dermatologists prescribing OCPs do so for acne treatment. Academic practice setting was associated with higher odds of prescribing OCPs than a nonacademic setting, but the number of weekly acne patients did not impact the likelihood of prescribing OCPs, which suggests a treatment gap warranting education efforts for dermatologists in nonacademic settings seeing many acne patients. Our study also suggests that awareness of the increased risk for VTE associated with DCOCPs is not associated with lower likelihood of prescribing DCOCPs, suggesting dermatologists may find greater treatment efficacy to be worth the higher risk.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to the Department of Dermatology at the Weill Cornell College of Medicine (New York, New York) for providing funding to complete this study. We also acknowledge Paul Christos, DrPH, MS (New York, New York), and Xuming Sun, MS (New York, New York), for their assistance with the survey design. We also are indebted to numerous dermatologic professional societies for allowing the survey to be distributed to their membership.
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