Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Skin Whitening among Female University Students in Northeastern Nigeria

摘要

Introduction: Skin whitening is the act of brightening the skin complexion by using substances that are applied on the skin or administered into the body by other means. The use of skin whitening agents has its drawback in terms of causing harmful effects such as skin disorders like depigmentation, rashes, pimples, discolorations, kidney damaged, cancers, neurological and psychiatric disorders depending on how the agents for skin whitening are used. Objective: The paper examines the knowledge, attitude and practice of skin whitening by university female students in north eastern Nigeria, where some dark skinned women in particular tend to bleach their skin. Method: A cross sectional descriptive study. Results: The awareness level of the students about skin whitening agents and their harmful effects was found to be high amo ng the students and little below, half of them are already users of such agents mainly for beautification. Few of them think the use of skin whitening agents can be addictive and lead to social stigma but they don’t believe that the use of such agents should be restricted to medical only. Conclusion: Majority of the female students in the Universities in north-eastern Nigeria bleach their skin with dangerous chemical agents meant for other reasons mainly to attract the opposite sex despite having high knowledge of the harmful effects. Government is highly recommended to take the necessary steps to curtail such menace.