Creation of a tool to assess adherence to treatments for acne.

BACKGROUND: Acne is a disorder in which adherence has a major impact on treatment outcome. OBJECTIVE: To create an easy-to-use tool to assess treatment adherence, based on a questionnaire that can be used on a daily basis by dermatologists. METHODS: First, we evaluated adherence by comparing responses to a self-administered questionnaire with the dermatologist's prescription. Second, concordance was assessed between adherence and each question of a dermatologist-directed questionnaire (DDQ) administered during the consultation. Third, DDQ questions were combined to construct a mini-questionnaire, and these combinations were tested to maximize specificity. RESULTS: The study included 246 patients, who were prescribed topical treatment alone, combined treatment (excluding oral isotretinoin) or oral isotretinoin alone. The mini-questionnaires for oral and topical treatments had 89% specificity for detecting poor adherence. An inappropriate answer to one question classified the patient as a probable poor compliance. CONCLUSIONS: Our mini-questionnaires provide dermatologists with specific tools to rapidly identify poor compliance.