Quality of Life of Parents Living with a Child Suffering from Atopic Dermatitis Before and After a 3‐Month Treatment with an Emollient

Abstract

Atopic dermatitis (AD) can be extremely disabling and may cause psychological problems for affected children and their families. Moisturizers and emollients are important in the baseline daily skin care of patients with AD. To assess the effect of a 3-month, twice-daily treatment with an emollient on the quality of life (QoL) of parents with a child with mild to moderate AD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis [SCORAD] ≤ 30, a multicenter open trial was performed by eight dermatologists on 191 volunteers. Evaluation by the dermatologist of the child's clinical condition (SCORAD) and of the efficacy and overall safety of the treatment was associated with a QoL questionnaire completed by one parent of the atopic child. A self-assessment of the global QoL and of the efficacy and overall safety was also performed. During the study, mean SCORAD dropped from 28 to 12 (p < 0.001), with good improvement in skin dryness and pruritus criteria. At the same time, the self-assessment of the global parent QoL scores dropped from 4.4 to 2.1 (p < 0.001) with 60%, 48% and 79% favorable parent opinions regarding wellbeing or improvement of the health condition, quality of sleep, and efficacy of the emollient, respectively. This trial revealed the efficacy of the product in improving parent QoL (85% of parents noted improvement in QoL), and its global safety was considered to be very good or good, with 80% favorable opinions in parents' declarative judgements and dermatologists' assessments. The emollient evaluated improves the course of AD and can improve the QoL of patients and their families.

Fragility of epidermis in newborns, children and adolescents

“…Emollients have been proven to have several beneficial effects during AD treatment: need for less quantities of topical corticosteroids, decrease in xerosis, improvement in quality of life, protection against the effects of irritant factors, and to a certain extent, decrease in disease intensity. 82,84 The steroid-sparing effect was proven in a randomized, multicenter prospective study including 162 children under the age of 1 year, with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. 82 In this study, the consumption of potent topical corticosteroids was reduced by over 40% in the emollient group.…”

Measuring the impact of dermatological conditions on family and caregivers: a review of dermatology‐specific instruments

“…The DFI has been translated from English into 17 languages. Some studies used modified versions of the DFI …”

“…Some studies used modified versions of the DFI. [47][48][49] The Parents' Index of Quality of Life in Atopic Dermatitis (PIQoL-AD)…”

Atopic dermatitis - all you can do from the outside

“…While the presence of acute eczema can be distinguished easily by anyone, choosing the ‘right’ emollient is a difficult task and can still justify the expression: ‘the art of dermatology’. In summary, there is no question that, for an experienced dermatologist, emollients are the mainstay of maintenance therapy . The weak points of this therapy are two‐fold: tolerability and cost.…”