Awareness, Patient Behaviour, and Treatment Expectations in a French Cohort with Actinic Keratosis (REAKT Survey)

Abstract

This study was undertaken to evaluate disease awareness, attitudes, and expectations in people with actinic keratosis (AK) in France. A total of 639 participants aged ≥ 40 years reporting AK lesions diagnosed by a physician were recruited from a representative general population panel. Data were collected on disease awareness, care experience, sun protection behaviour,, and treatment expectations. The proportion of participants endorsing correct statements about AK rarely exceeded 50%. Only 332 participants (52.0%) reported that they knew much about treatments and 134 (21.0%) never felt the need to request information; 545 participants (85.3%) reported that waiting times to see dermatologists were excessive; 160 treated participants (40.8%) reported lesion persistence after treatment; and 140 (35.3%) that certain treatments made their skin painful or unsightly. Sun protection was sub-optimal, with 145 participants (22.7%) rarely or never going out in the sun with protection and 334 (52.3%) rarely or never putting on sunscreen in the morning. The most frequently desired improvements to care were “Treatments that make lesions disappear” (n = 528; 82.6%), “Treatments that are easy to use” (n = 524; 82.0%) and “Physicians to propose regular skin examinations” (n = 510; 79.8%). In conclusion, better information and education for AK patients are needed, as well as more acceptable topical treatments.