Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of the patients
| Explanatory variable | Parameter | Regions (n/ %) | Overall (n/ %) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North (n = 78) | East (n = 44) | West (n = 82) | South (n = 127) | |||
| Age at onset (years) | <20 | 3 (4%) | 3 (7%) | 8 (10%) | 6 (4%) | 20 (6%) |
| 20–29 | 13 (17%) | 20 (45%) | 24 (29%) | 38 (30%) | 95 (29%) | |
| 30–39 | 31 (40%) | 16 (36%) | 35 (43%) | 54 (42%) | 136 (41%) | |
| 40–49 | 24 (31%) | 5 (11%) | 14 (17%) | 24 (19%) | 67 (20%) | |
| >50 | 7 (9%) | 0 | 1 (1%) | 5 (4%) | 13 (4%) | |
| Disease chronicity (years) | <1 | 12 (15%) | 7 (16%) | 15 (18%) | 2 (2%) | 36 (11%) |
| 1–2 | 19 (24%) | 9 (20%) | 19 (23%) | 55 (43%) | 102 (31%) | |
| 2–3 | 15 (19%) | 5 (11%) | 13 (16%) | 18 (14%) | 51 (15%) | |
| >3 | 32 (41%) | 23 (52%) | 35 (43%) | 52 (42%) | 142 (43%) | |
| Melasma pattern | Centrofacial | 43 (55%) | 23 (52%) | 32 (39%) | 42 (33%) | 140 (42%) |
| Malar | 17 (22%) | 21 (48%) | 41 (50%) | 51 (40%) | 130 (39%) | |
| Mandibular | 4 (5%) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 (1%) | |
| Centrofacial and malar | 14 (18%) | 0 | 9 (11%) | 24 (19%) | 47 (14%) | |
| Centrofacial and mandibular | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1%) | 1 | |
| Malar and mandibular | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 (1%) | 1 | |
| Centrofacial, malar and mandibular | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 (6%) | 8 (2%) | |
| Distribution | Cheeks | 74 (95%) | 44 (100%) | 75 (91%) | 117 (92%) | 310 (94%) |
| Nose | 36 (46%) | 18 (41%) | 42 (51%) | 59 (46%) | 115 (35%) | |
| Forehead | 21 (27%) | 15 (34%) | 19 (23%) | 31 (24%) | 86 (26%) | |
| Upper lip | 3 (4%) | 7 (16%) | 8 (10%) | 14 (11%) | 32 (10%) | |
| Chin | 2 (2%) | 1 (2%) | 6 (7%) | 8 (6%) | 17 (5%) | |
| Mandible | 4 (5%) | 0 | 0 | 7 (5%) | 11(3%) | |
| Etiology sunscreen usage cosmetic usage | Duration of sun exposure (h) | 29.84 ± 16.9 | 32.1 ± 15.4 | 32.7 ± 20.1 | 42.9 ± 33.8 | 35.9 ± 25.7 |
| Yes | 54 (69%) | 11 (25%) | 36 (44%) | 16 (13%) | 117 (35%) | |
| Yes | 16 (20%) | 22 (50%) | 37 (45%) | 16 (20%) | 116 (35%) | |
| Pregnancy | Single | 4 (5%) | 9 (20%) | 21 (26%) | 33 (26%) | 67 (20%) |
| Multiple | 45 (58%) | 11 (25%) | 36 (44%) | 44 (35%) | 136 (41%) | |
| No | 16 (21%) | 14 (32%) | 12 (15%) | 21 (17%) | 63 (19%) | |
| Menopause status | Yes | 10 (13%) | 0 | 8 (10%) | 19 (15%) | 37 (11%) |
| Oral contraceptive usage | Yes | 8 (10%) | 10 (23%) | 2 (2%) | 3 (2%) | 23 (7%) |
| Socioeconomic class | Lower Middle | 0 | 2 (5%) | 12 (15%) | 29 (23%) | 43 (13%) |
| Upper Lower | 0 | 2 (5%) | 8 (10%) | 5 (4%) | 17 (5%) | |
| Upper Middle | 72 (92%) | 26 (59%) | 39 (48%) | 80 (63%) | 217 (66%) | |
| Upper | 6 (8%) | 14 (32%) | 23 (28%) | 11 (9%) | 54 (16%) | |
| Quality of life [IQR] | 3 [1–5] | 4 [4–5] | 6 [3.25–7] | 4 [2–5] | 4 [2–5] | |
| Treatment used | Triple combination | 20 (26%) | 19 (43%) | 52 (63%) | 24 (19%) | 115 (35%) |
| Monotherapy | 17 (22%) | 6 (14%) | 1 (1%) | 0 | 24 (7%) | |
| Combination therapy | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| HQ–AHA combination | 3 (4%) | 0 | 2 (2%) | 0 | 5 (2%) | |
| Superficial chemical peel | 0 | 12 (27%) | 40 (49%) | 1 (1%) | 53 (5%) | |
| Vitamin C | 0 | 1 (2%) | 13 (16%) | 1 (1%) | 15 (5%) | |
| No treatment | 38 (49%) | 17 (39%) | 12 (15%) | 102 (80%) | 169 (51%) | |
IQR inter-quartile range, HQ–AHA hydroquinone–aminohydroxy acids