ReviewCureus2025
Impact of Stress on the Prevalence of Acne Among Medical Students in the Middle East: A Systematic Review.
Review in Cureus, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Expert Consensus on the Role of Dermocosmetics in Acne Management in the United Arab Emirates.Dermatology and therapy · 2026Article
- Probiotic-Mediated Inhibition of Skin Pathogens and Modulation of Innate Immune Responses in HaCaT Cells.Microorganisms · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Acne vulgaris is a prevalent dermatological condition among young adults, with stress frequently implicated as a contributing factor. Medical students, due to their academic demands, are particularly susceptible to both stress and acne. This systematic review aims to evaluate the impact of stress on the prevalence and severity of acne among medical students in the Middle East. This review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, CINAHL Ultimate, and Google Scholar. Eligible studies included those that examined the association between stress and acne among medical students. In total, 11 studies met the inclusion criteria, encompassing 3,063 participants, primarily medical students with an average age of 21 years. Most studies (n = 9) were cross-sectional, with one case-control and one prospective study. The pooled prevalence of acne was 64.3%. Nine studies reported a statistically significant association between stress and acne severity (p < 0.05), while the remaining studies noted a non-significant but suggestive relationship. Common assessment tools included the Perceived Stress Scale, Global Acne Grading System, and Dermatology Life Quality Index. The findings support a potential bidirectional relationship between psychological stress and acne flare-ups. There is consistent evidence suggesting that stress significantly contributes to the prevalence and severity of acne among medical students in the Middle East. Early stress management interventions may help mitigate acne severity in this population.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.