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Published on: September 26, 2019
Web-based consultations for parents of children with atopic dermatitis: results of a randomized controlled trial
Trine S Bergmo1, Silje C Wangberg, Thomas R Schopf
1Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine, University Hospital of North Norway, Tromsø, Norway. trine.bergmo@telemed.no
Insights
Web-based consultations for childhood atopic dermatitis did not improve self-management or health outcomes. While feasible, this approach did not significantly alter health resource use or family costs in the study.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Dermatology
- Health Informatics
- Telemedicine
Background:
- Atopic dermatitis is a common chronic skin condition in children.
- Effective management strategies are crucial for improving quality of life and reducing healthcare burden.
- Web-based consultations offer a potential avenue for remote patient support and management.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the impact of web-based consultations on self-management behavior, health outcomes, healthcare resource utilization, and family costs in children with atopic dermatitis.
- To assess the feasibility of integrating web-based consultations into routine care for pediatric atopic dermatitis.
Main Methods:
- A randomized controlled trial involving 98 children with atopic dermatitis.
- Intervention group received remote dermatology consultations via a secure web-based system.
- Control group received standard care; both groups had initial educational sessions.
Main Results:
- 38% of the intervention group utilized web consultations (158 total visits).
- No significant changes were observed in self-management behavior, health outcomes, or costs.
- The intervention group had fewer visits to complementary therapy practitioners; both groups reduced weekly skin treatments and total healthcare visits.
Conclusions:
- Supplementing traditional treatment with web-based consultations showed no significant effect on childhood atopic dermatitis management.
- Web consultations are feasible but require further research to establish their impact on self-management, health outcomes, and resource use.
Aim:
To analyse how web-based consultations for parents of children with atopic dermatitis affect self-management behaviour, health outcome, health resource use and family costs.
Methods:
Ninety-eight children with atopic dermatitis were randomly assigned to intervention and control groups. The intervention group received remote dermatology consultations through a secure web-based communication system. The control group was encouraged to seek treatment through traditional means such as general practitioner visits and hospital care. Both groups received an extensive individual educational session prior to the intervention.
Results:
Thirty-eight percent of the intervention group used web-based consultations 158 times ranging from 1 to 38 consultations per patient. We found no change in self-management behaviour, health outcome or costs. The intervention group tended to have fewer visits to practitioners offering complementary therapies than the control group, and we found a positive correlation between emergency visits at baseline and messages sent. Both groups, however, reduced the mean number of skin care treatments performed per week and had fewer total health care visits after the intervention.
Conclusion:
We found no effect of supplementing traditional treatment for childhood dermatitis with web-based consultations. This study showed that web consultations is feasible, but more research is needed to determine its effect on self-management skills, health outcome and resource use.
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