Melasma in people with darker skin types: a scoping review protocol on prevalence, treatment options for melasma and impact on quality of life

Nomakhosi Mpofana; Buyisile Chibi; Nceba Gqaleni; Ahmed Hussein; Avenal Jane Finlayson; Kabelo Kgarosi; Ncoza Cordelia Dlova

doi:10.1186/s13643-023-02300-7

Melasma in people with darker skin types: a scoping review protocol on prevalence, treatment options for melasma and impact on quality of life

Syst Rev. 2023 Aug 10;12(1):139. doi: 10.1186/s13643-023-02300-7.

Authors

Nomakhosi Mpofana^{1

2}, Buyisile Chibi³, Nceba Gqaleni^{4

5}, Ahmed Hussein⁶, Avenal Jane Finlayson⁷, Kabelo Kgarosi⁸, Ncoza Cordelia Dlova⁹

Affiliations

¹ Dermatology Department, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa. mpofanancput@gmail.com.
² Department of Somatology, Durban University of Technology, Durban, 4000, South Africa. mpofanancput@gmail.com.
³ Center of Rural Health, School of Nursing and Public Health, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
⁴ Discipline of Traditional Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
⁵ Faculty of Health Sciences, Durban University of Technology, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
⁶ Department of Chemistry, Cape Peninsula University of Technology, Bellville, 7535, South Africa.
⁷ Durban University of Technology, Durban, 4000, South Africa.
⁸ University of Pretoria, Pretoria, 0002, South Africa.
⁹ Dermatology Department, Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 4000, South Africa.

Abstract

Background: Melasma is one of the most encountered dermatoses in dermatology and skin care clinics. It is a challenging chronic, recurrent condition associated with hyperpigmentation. Its aetiology is poorly understood. Melasma affects all races and gender but is more prevalent in women with darker skin types. Being a facial lesion, melasma has a severe impact on quality of life due to its disfigurement. While many modalities of treatment for melasma exists, unfortunately, effectiveness and safety remain a huge concern. Treatment modalities are variable and often unsatisfactory. The objective of this scoping review is to systemically map available evidence from literature regarding melasma on people with darker skin types, garner insight as to how melasma affects the quality of life and begin to investigate and gain understanding on effectiveness of different treatments used for melasma.

Methods: A scoping review guided by Arksey and O'Malley's framework, the enhancements and recommendations of Levac, Colquhoun and O'Brien, Daudt and associates and the 2015 Johanna Briggs Institute's guidelines will be conducted. Systematic electronic searches of databases and search engines will include Scopus, PubMed, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane, Science Direct, and Web of Science which will be conducted to attain published peer-reviewed articles of all study designs excluding reviews and grey literature. All literature that meets the inclusion criteria, research question and sub-question will be included in this review. All the retrieved literature will be exported to an Endnote X20 library. Quality appraisal of the included articles will be conducted using the mixed methods appraisal tool (MMAT) 2018 version.

Discussion: We anticipate mapping relevant literature on the melasma, investigating the effectiveness of treatment options of melasma as well as evaluating its association with quality of life in people with darker skin types. This study is likely to reveal research gaps, which could guide future implementation research on melasma treatment interventions.

Systematic review registration: This protocol has been registered a priori with OSF and is accessible on this link: https://osf.io/ru3jc/ .

Keywords: Chloasma; Hypermelanosis; Hyperpigmentation; Melasma; Therapy; Treatment.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Female
Humans
Melanosis* / therapy
Prevalence
Quality of Life*
Research Design
Review Literature as Topic