Beyond the Grid: A Case Series of Parent-Child Comprehension of Patch Testing Results

While allergic contact dermatitis (ACD) affects 4.4 million US children, patch testing outcomes and challenges among pediatric patients have never been reported. We performed a longitudinal survey study among 5 patient-caregiver dyads after patch testing to characterize patient experiences and identify barriers to long-term allergen avoidance and clinical improvement. Caregivers demonstrated decreasing recall of allergens and comprehension of ACD over time as well as increasing concerns about children's exposure to identified allergens outside of the home and in school or extra-curricular settings. Follow up counseling to re-enforce patient-caregiver comprehension of patch testing results and ACD and investigating allergen exposures outside of the home may be important interventions to improve clinical outcomes.