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Disease activity correlated better with QoL when disease activity was less severe and disease extent ('rule of nines') correlated better with QoL than disease severity. An individual's improvement of 10 points in disease activity was accompanied by only a small improvement in QoL. Other factors than disease activity may influence QoL in patients with AD.

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The Self-Administered Eczema Area and Severity Index (SA-EASI) is one of the few patient based atopic dermatitis (AD) disease activity scores and was found to be highly correlated with the EASI. Correlation with other frequently used scoring methods has not been investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relation of the SA-EASI with two physician-based disease activity scores (objective SCORAD and SASSAD score) and with a serum marker for AD (Thymus and Activation-Regulated Cytokine [TARC]) in children with AD. Sixty children with moderate to severe AD were included. The SA-EASI was completed by caregivers, and the objective SCORAD and SASSAD scores were measured successively on the same day by a trained investigator. Blood for serum TARC measurement was drawn. The correlation between the SA-EASI and the objective SCORAD was high (ρ = 0.61, p = <0.001), mainly based on high correlation between the body surface area (BSA) measurements of both scores (ρ = 0.50, p = <0.001). The correlation with the SASSAD score (only severity measurement) was 0.43 (p = <0.001). The correlation with serum TARC levels was 0.46; p = <0.001, mainly based on the BSA score of the SA-EASI (ρ = 0.42, p = <0.001). Parents may have more difficulty in scoring severity of AD than scoring BSA involved. Educating parents in severity scoring of AD may improve agreement of the SA-EASI and the objective SCORAD, TARC, and SASSAD score. Additional use of the SA-EASI in routine clinical practice or in trials may then facilitate more frequent but still accurate assessment of AD.

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