Characterization of rosacea patients in Tohoku area of Japan: Retrospective study of 340 rosacea cases

Perspectives on rosacea patient characteristics and quality of life using baseline data from a phase 3 clinical study conducted in Japan

There is a lack of contemporary data on rosacea originating in Japan. Using baseline data from a randomized, phase 3 study of 130 Japanese patients with rosacea treated with metronidazole gel (0.75%) or vehicle, the authors evaluated demographic and clinical characteristics, pretreatment quality of life, and exacerbating factors. In line with global data, most patients were women (82.3%; 107/130) and aged between 30 and 50 years (60.7%; 79/130). Patient-reported quality of life scores indicated that rosacea had an impact similar to that of other debilitating and disfiguring skin conditions (such as psoriasis), particularly in terms of the emotional burden. Anxiety or depression was reported by 30% of patients (39/130), with 6.9% (9/130) reporting moderate levels and 0.8% (1/130) reporting severe levels. The top five exacerbating factors reported to trigger worsening of rosacea were temperature changes, sun exposure, hot weather, seasonal variation, and heavy exercise. In addition, pollen exposure and menstruation were noted as triggers of rosacea symptoms; these are novel findings that require further investigation to fully understand the implications for patients and treatment. Rosacea is likely to be underdiagnosed and undertreated in Japan because of the current lack of consensus guidelines and standardized therapy. The authors anticipate that the results of this analysis will provide much needed information to help improve diagnosis and facilitate the management of rosacea in patients.