Abstract
Background:
Primary axillary hyperhidrosis develops in younger years and negatively impacts their daily life, career opportunities, academic activities, and emotions. Parental understanding for the disorder in younger patients including junior/senior high school patients is important, however, obtaining the understanding of people around them is difficult.
Objectives:
To survey junior/senior high school patients’ and mothers’ perceptions for axillary hyperhidrosis in junior/senior high school students.
Methods:
An internet questionnaire survey was completed by 214 junior/senior high school students with a hyperhidrosis disease severity scale score of ≥3 who met at least two of Hornberger’s diagnostic criteria, and 215 mothers with a first child (junior/senior high school student) with excessive axillary sweating who met at least two of Hornberger’s diagnostic criteria.
Results:
Although 90.7% of the students reported “suffering/quite suffering” from axillary sweating, only 65.6% of the mothers believed “their child was suffering/quite suffering” from it. Regarding treatment, 22.3% of the students visited a medical facility, and 26.0% of the mothers made their children visit a medical facility. The most common reasons for not visiting medical facilities were the “high cost of the medical fee” for the students (46.8%) and “visiting medical facilities for axillary sweating is exaggerated” for the mothers (28.9%). Whereas 28.7% of the students “knew” that they could receive proper dermatological healthcare, 8.8% of the mothers “knew” that they could receive proper dermatological healthcare, which is covered by insurance.
Conclusions:
The perception gap of axillary hyperhidrosis in junior/senior high school students between children and mothers was demonstrated in this survey. Although treatment options for primary axillary hyperhidrosis are expanding, accurate knowledge of this disease is lacking. Further educational activities are required to improve disease awareness in younger patients, including junior/senior high school patients, so that they can have the opportunity to receive proper medical care.
