Believe the Parents: QOL in Families with Young Children with Eczema

Caring for a child with atopic dermatitis (AD) involves daily skin treatment regimens, multiple medical office visits, and financial costs associated with medications and work absence. Disease flares bring additional stress. Quality-of-life (QOL) measures are increasingly important given the rising prevalence of childhood atopic dermatitis.

To better study predictors of QOL among parents and patients with childhood eczema, investigators studied 171 families attending an outpatient pediatric dermatology clinic in Croatia. The children ranged in age from 3 months to 7 years and had had AD for at least 3 months. Disease was assessed by the dermatologist-assessed Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) index, and parents completed the Patient-Oriente…