Do we need another symptom score for childhood eczema?

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Clinical Research
• Patient-Reported Outcomes

Background:

• Accurate measurement of atopic dermatitis (AD) severity is crucial for effective management.
• Existing clinical severity scores vary in their assessment of subjective symptoms and objective signs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate correlations among various clinical severity scores for atopic dermatitis.
• To evaluate the performance of a symptom-based severity score, the Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM).

Main Methods:

• Compared Chinese-translated POEM, SCORAD, NESS, CDLQI, skin hydration (SH), and transepidermal water loss (TEWL).
• Utilized Spearman's rho correlations to assess relationships between scores.
• Employed linear stepwise-backward regression to identify independent associations.

Main Results:

• 126 patient datasets were analyzed.
• POEM demonstrated strong correlations with Objective SCORAD (rho=0.7), NESS (rho=0.69), SCORAD itch (rho=0.75), SCORAD sleep loss (rho=0.64), and CDLQI (rho=0.77).
• POEM was independently associated with pruritus, activities, and sleep disturbance parameters from CDLQI and NESS.

Conclusions:

• Clinical scores for AD, encompassing acute, chronic, subjective, and objective measures, are well-correlated.
• The modified POEM, a symptom-based measure, is user-friendly for patients and parents.
• POEM is recommended as an ideal, all-round symptom-based severity score for research due to its strong correlations.