Skin concerns and treatment seeking trends among patients visiting aesthetic clinics in Lahore, Pakistan

Vollständiger Abstract

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Background & Objective: The increasing demand for aesthetic services, combined with the lucrative nature of the aesthetic industry, has led many healthcare providers to enter this field. This led to the rapid expansion of aesthetic clinics worldwide. However, many of these establishments face early closures. The primary objective of this study was to identify the most prevalent skin concerns among patients visiting dermatology and aesthetic clinics. In addition, the study aims to analyze patients’ treatment-seeking behavior and trends. Methodology: This retrospective observational study was conducted in two branches of an aesthetic and dermatology clinic in Lahore, Pakistan, from June 2019 to December 2023, covering 6,189 patients. Data was analyzed using SPSS version 21, focusing on identifying patients’ presenting complaints and demographic trends. Results: The study revealed that almost half of the patients (45%) visited clinics related to pigmentation concerns, while acne-related concerns accounted for 27% of patient visits. Notably, only 4.5% of patients directly sought aesthetic services, including fillers and botulinum toxin injections. Pigmentation was the most frequently reported skin concern (45.2%), followed by scars (13.8%) and acne (12.8%). The majority patients were females (69%) aged 15-34 years and primarily presented with pigmentation and hirsutism, while males (31%) primarily sought treatments for acne, acne scars, and hair loss. Conclusion: The findings of this study offer valuable insight into patient trends and treatment-seeking behavior within aesthetic practice. Unlike government or tertiary care hospital-based studies, this study uniquely reflects skin concerns in private dermatology and aesthetic clinics. We hypothesize that specialized dermatological qualifications may contribute to the success of private aesthetic practice; however, this hypothesis was not directly tested in the present study and warrants further investigation in future research.