EFFICACY TREATMENT OF ACNE VULGARIS 99 computer software (SPSS Inc, Chicago). Analysis of variance was used to compare all measures, including the overall acne severity grade, the questionnaire, and the sebum casual level. Differences before and after treatment were computed using a paired t-test. Comparisons between the two groups were computed using a nonparametic test, and comparisons were considered significant at p 0.05 and p values were two-tailed. RESULTS CLINICAL ASSESSMENT The patients ranged in age from 11 years to 35 years, with the mean being 20.7 years. There were nine males (45%) and 11 females (55%). There were no significant differ- ences in the demographic characteristics between the two treatment groups (Table II). The mean overall severity scale at baseline of patients in group I for Acne Dressing® (mean= 1.175) was higher than that of group II (mean= 1.08) (p 0.05). The average number of inflammatory lesion healing days in groups I and II were 3.2 ± 0.79 and 4.3 ± 0.83 days, respectively. At day 7, the severity of acne, assessed by patients and the physician, was significantly reduced in the treatment group compared with the skin tapes group, as demonstrated by the mean ± SD change from baseline: 0.43 ± 0.21, 0.80 ± 0.23, 0.16 ± 0.07, and 0.41 ± 0.25, respectively (p 0.05) (Table II). In the improvement of the overall acne severity grade, redness, oiliness, and the dark pigmentation of acne, the Acne Dressing® Table II Comparability of Demographic Data, Overall Severity Acne Scale, and Acne Questionnaire (n = 20) Age (mean ± SD) Sex Male Female Variable Overall acne severity scale Baseline: Patients Physician Day3: Patients Physician Day5: Patients Physician Day7: Patients Physician Questionnaire (day 7) Redness Oiliness Dark pigmentation Improvement days of inflammatory lesion healing 1 Group I: Acne Dressing®. 2 Group 2: Skin tapes. * p 0.05. Group 1 1 (Mean ± SD) 20.7 ± 3.8 5 5 1.18 ± 0.43 0.90 ± 0.33 0.80 ± 0.34 0.53 ± 0.25 0.53 ± 0.22 0.27 ± 0.14 0.43 ± 0.21 0.16 ± 0.08 1.2 ± 0.53 1.5 ± 0.53 1.8 ± 0.42 2.10 ± 0.57 3.20 ± 0.79 Group 22 (Mean ± SD) 21 ± 4.8 4 6 1.08 ± 0.41 0.65 ± 0.27 1.12 ± 0.36 0.68 ± 0.30 0.93 ± 0.24 0.68 ± 0.24 0.80 ± 0.23 0.41 ± 0.25 2.7 ± 0.84 2.4 ± 0.84 2.3 ± 0.48 4.20 ± 0.79 4.30 ± 0.83 p-Value .88 .68 .60 .09 .06 .23 .01 * .00* .00* .00* .00* .01 * .02* .00* .00*

100 JOURNAL OF COSMETIC SCIENCE was consistently more effective than skin rapes at day 7 (Figure 1), and these differences were statistically significant with p values of 0.05 for the overall acne severity grade, 0.05 for redness, 0.01 for oiliness, and 0.02 for dark pigmentation. After treatment with Acne Dressing®, the results showed there was significant improve- ment over the pre-treatment state of acne conditions (including redness, oiliness, and pigmentation) (p $ 0.05) (Table III). Improvement in acne conditions as assessed by the patients was significantly reduced in the treatment group compared with the skin rapes group, as demonstrated by the mean ± SD change: 2.1 ± 0.57 and 4.2 ± 0.79, respec- tively (p $ 0.05) (Figure 2). All treatment-group patients considered that there was moderate improvement or better. However, only 20% of the skin tapes patients con- sidered there was a moderate improvement in treatment. SEBUM CASUAL LEVEL EVALUATIONS There were significant differences between the two groups in the sebum casual level at day 7, as demonstrated by the mean ± SD change from baseline: 186.9 ± 53.04 and 241.8 ± 62.93 (p $ 0.05) (Figure 3). However, there were no significant differences at baseline, on day 3 and, on day 5 in the sebum casual level. Comparing the before and after treatment with Acne Dressing®, the results showed there was significant improve- ment in acne conditions (including redness, oiliness, and pigmentation) (p $ 0.05) (Table III). However, there were no significant differences between the pre- and post- treatment states in the skin rapes group. ULTRAVIOLET PENETRATION TEST As shown in Figure 4, it is clear that the ratio of transmission in Acne Dressing® during the period of UVB exposure (280 nm-320 nm) is less than 7 .4%, indicating that Acne Dressing® is a useful material to block UVB from sunlight from reaching the skin 1.4 g 1.2 � 1 � 0 0.8 ·E o.6 � 0.4 � 0.2 0 Baseline ■ group 1 □ group2 day3 day5 day? day Figure 1. Improvement in the mean overall acne severity grade after treatment with Acne Dressing® (group 1) or skin tapes (group 2).