ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to learn the opinions of the patients with non-genital verruca vulgaris about the cause, course and treatment of verruca and their sources of information.

A total of 187 non-genital verruca patients over 15 years old were included in the study. Their ideas about the cause, ways of transmission and treatment, and the sources they referred for information about the disease were recorded.

Of the participants, 44.4% thought it was contagious, 3.2% thought it was genetically inherited and 11.8% thought that is was not a disease. Seventy six of the patients (40.6%) had no idea about the subject. When the causes of verruca was questioned, 88 patients (47.1%) replied that it is a virus, 12 patients (6.4%) thought that it was transmitted by frogs, 4 patients (2.1%) thought that it was transmitted by turtles and 83 patients (44.4%) thought that it was transmitted by other reasons. Forty five of the patients (24.1%) tried conventional treatment methods previously. Of them, 16 (35.5%) had the verruca prayed, 7 (15.5%) applied fig sap, 6 (13.4%) applied vaseline/toothpaste, 6 (13.4%) applied acid on it, 4 (8.9%) tied it with a string, 4 (8.9%) used keratoma tape, and 2 (4.4%) cut it.

It was determined that such a common dermatological disease is not recognized and the treatment methods are not known enough.