The Use of Topical Clobetasol among the Women in Hail Region, Saudi Arabia: A Cross-sectional Study on Knowledge and Practice

Aims: The current study aimed to evaluate female consumers’ knowledge and practice about harmful effects of topical clobetasol applied on the face for cosmetic purposes.

Study Design: Cross-sectional study.

Place and Duration of Study: Randomly selected community pharmacies, well known cosmetic shops and shopping malls of Hail region, Saudi Arabia from March 2018 to June 2018.

Methodology: We included 391 participants who only used ‘clobetasol’ as a topical steroid at the time of interview, responses were collected as per the study tool and analyzed using SPSS for Windows, Version 16.0. Chicago, SPSS Inc..

Results: Relatives (28.1%), friends (25.6%) and community pharmacists (15.6%) contributed significantly towards using topical clobetasol cream. In 86.2% of the cases, the pharmacists who dispensed clobetasol did not inform the consumer about the harmful effects. Purchasing the cream without prescription (P = 0.025) was significantly associated with age. In the study, 41.9 % of the females experienced adverse effects, with the commonest one being hair growth on face (23%) followed by dermatrophy (14.8%); with a significant association with frequency of use (p<0.001).

Conclusion: There was haphazard use of topical clobetasol by females and they were unaware of the adverse effects. Over-the-counter availability of topical clobetasol, lack of knowledge about harmful effects, and lack of counseling on its safety profile by community pharmacists and other healthcare professionals are mainly responsible for its misuse and harmful consequences.