The effect of isotretinoin on depression and anxiety in patients with acne vulgaris: A prospective study

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of isotretinoin on depression and anxiety.Material and Methods: Beck depression and Beck anxiety scales were performed by the clinician before the initiation of isotretinointherapy. At follow-up, 0.5 mg/kg/day isotretinoin was administered to the patients. In the third month of the treatment, 39 patientswere reevaluated with the same scales.Results: There was no statistically significant difference in pre-treatment (11.38±12.48) vs. post-treatment (10.48±9.77) changein Beck anxiety scale points. Similarly, although there was a decrease in the Beck depression scale scores in the pre-treatment(10.05±9.02) and post-treatment (8.74±9.45) scores, no significant difference was found. Although the decrease in scores wasnot statistically significant, the decrease in both depression and anxiety scores after treatment showed a statistically significantcorrelation in itself (p