Trends in Use of Prescription Skin Lightening Creams

Dana S. Saade, Mayra B. C. Maymone, Henriette De La Garza, Eric A. Secemsky, Kevin F. Kennedy and Neelam A. Vashi
Additional contact information
Dana S. Saade: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
Mayra B. C. Maymone: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
Henriette De La Garza: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA
Eric A. Secemsky: Department of Medicine, Division of Cardiology, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215, USA
Kevin F. Kennedy: Saint-Luke’s Mid America Heart Institute and University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine, Kansas City, MO 64111, USA
Neelam A. Vashi: Department of Dermatology, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA 02118, USA

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 11, 1-9

Abstract: The desire for an even skin tone pervades all cultures and regions of the world. Uniform skin color is considered a sign of beauty and youth. Pigmentation abnormalities can arise idiopathically with genetic predetermination, with injury and environmental exposures, and with advancing age, and can, therefore, be distressing to patients, leading them to seek a variety of treatments with professional assistance. In this short report, we describe the trends in the use of prescription lightening creams, particularly in patients with darker skin types residing in the US. Amongst 404 participants, skin hyperpigmentation had a moderate effect on patients’ quality of life, and the most common diagnosis associated with the use of a prescription product was melasma (60.8%). The most common agent prescribed was hydroquinone (62.9%), followed by triple combination cream (31.4%). It is the dermatologist’s duty to gauge the effect of the pigmentation disease on patients’ life in order to counsel, tailor, and decide on the most appropriate treatment option.

Keywords: lightening cream; hyperpigmentation; skin of color; quality of life; melasma (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5650/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/11/5650/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:11:p:5650-:d:561853

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().