Atopic dermatitis disease burden is affected by severity and time spent managing the disease, according to a study.
“Our findings highlight that AD is much more than a rash, and has a myriad of negative impacts on patients’ lives, especially those with moderate to severe disease,” Wendy Smith Begolka, MBS, senior vice president of scientific and clinical affairs at the National Eczema Association (NEA) and one of the study’s authors, told Healio. “Second, each individual affected by AD has a unique lived experience. Physical, emotional, social and other elements can variably contribute over time to the patient’s perspective of disease burden.”
Begolka and colleagues conducted an analysis of data collected from a 32-item survey sent through patient advocacy groups, social media and clinicians. More than 1,000 patients with AD responded to the survey, which asked for a rating of overall impact of AD and specific elements of disease burden on an ordinal scale of 1 (no impact) to 5 (significant impact).
Of 1,065 patients, the majority reported having moderate AD (n = 467; 45%) or severe AD (n = 198; 28%), with 845 (80%) reporting their disease was severe when at its worse.
Thirty-two (3%) respondents said their AD had no overall disease burden in the preceding month, while 194 (18%) reported a low impact, 295 (28%) reported a moderate impact and 228 (21%) reported a high impact. Also, 316 (30%) said their AD had a significant impact on their lives.
Higher AD severity was subsequently associated with more disease burden compared with those with mild disease, according to a multivariable proportional odds model.
Additionally, mood changes were also associated with AD severity.
“Overall AD disease burden is not driven by any single disease or quality of life impact, underscoring its complex heterogeneity,” Smith Begolka said. “There is a significant negative effect of AD on the lives of adult patients. … The burden of AD is multidimensional and can be uniquely experienced by affected individuals.”
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