Objective:

to study health professionals' knowledge, attitudes and practices on melasma (skin discoloration) in pregnancy.

Methodology:

a descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted from October 2012 to March 2013 in two distinct stages, with a quantitative and qualitative approach. 61 health professionals from five basic health-care units on the east side of São Paulo who attend to pregnant women participated in the first phase, answering a questionnaire with open-ended and closed-ended questions. Nine of these professionals were also interviewed. The data from the questionnaires were analyzed using a descriptive statistical method and the interviews were subjected to a the thematic content analysis.

Results:

the average number of wrong answers to questions about the causes, prevention and treatment of melasma was greater than 50%. 52.4% of the respondents thought that skin blemishes do not affect the quality of life of the patients and regarded the condition as a simple problem. Skin care during pregnancy was thought to be of minor importance. Most of them do not deal with this subject in consultations with the patients.

Conclusions:

the staffs' knowledge of melasma and its psychosocial consequences proved to be poor, with little concern about this problem, primarily because of the low morbidity rate. The teams should be trained about the importance of this condition.

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