Acne severity and itch are associated: results from a Norwegian survey of 3775 adolescents

Funding sources: University of Oslo and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. Conflicts of interest: none declared. Madam, Acne and itch1 are highly associated with stress, but the relationship between acne and itch is not defined. Two small studies showed itch to be common among patients with acne in Singapore2 and Poland.3 The aim of this study was to examine the association between acne severity and itch in a large sample of adolescents from the general population. This was a cross‐sectional and questionnaire‐based study, conducted at the University of Oslo with the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and the Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Eastern and Southern Norway. The study methods have been described previously.4 In 2004 in Oslo, all students (18–19 years of age) in their final year of schooling and 1085 others aged 18–19 not in their final year of schooling were invited by mail to participate; 4744 were invited and 3775 (80%) completed the questionnaire.