Adherence in Atopic Dermatitis

Atopic dermatitis is a chronic dermatologic condition requiring extended treatment times with topical application of medications. While atopic dermatitis treatments can be highly effective when used as directed, oftentimes patients do not respond as expected, raising concern for non-adherence versus non-response. This chapter aims to describe what is currently known about adherence in atopic dermatitis and to discuss strategies to improve adherence in order to improve treatment outcomes. Whether intentional or unintentional, non-adherence to treatment can limit patient outcomes of this disease for a variety of reasons. These include frustration with medication efficacy, inconvenience, and fear of side effects. Other factors include forgetfulness, financial burden of treatment, lack of trust in the physician, dislike of prescribed medication, or lack of understanding of disease or treatment. Several interventions have been studied with the aim of improving adherence in atopic dermatitis-such as educational workshops for patients and caregivers, earlier follow-up visits, and text messages reminders-however these are often limited by sample size and power. Further research is needed to study both specific patterns of nonadherence in atopic dermatitis, as well as methods to improve them.