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. 2021 Apr;11(2):475-486.
doi: 10.1007/s13555-021-00488-x. Epub 2021 Jan 26.

Extent and Impact of Inadequate Disease Control in US Adults with a History of Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis Following Introduction of New Treatments

Andreas Westh Vilsbøll  1 , Peter Anderson  2 , James Piercy  2 , Gary Milligan  2 , Nana Kragh  3
Affiliations

Extent and Impact of Inadequate Disease Control in US Adults with a History of Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis Following Introduction of New Treatments

Andreas Westh Vilsbøll et al. Dermatol Ther (Heidelb). 2021 Apr.

Abstract

Introduction: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder which, despite recent therapeutic developments, leads to significant burden and morbidity, impacting on daily functioning, physical and mental health, and health-related quality of life. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of new therapeutic approaches in the treatment of moderate to severe AD and quantify subsequent differences in disease and symptom control.

Methods: Data were drawn from the 2018 Adelphi US AD Disease Specific Programme™ (DSP™), a cross-sectional survey of physicians (n = 150) and their patients with a history of moderate to severe AD (n = 749, 52.7% female, 72.1% white, mean age 40.1 ± 16.3 years). Inadequately controlled AD as rated by the physician was defined as currently flaring, and/or deteriorating/changeable AD and/or physician dissatisfaction with disease control on current treatment.

Results: The overall inadequate control rate was 42.3%, an improvement from 58.7% as identified in the 2014 DSP survey. The proportion of inadequately controlled patients increased as physician subjective severity (ranked from mild through to severe) increased; 15.4% of patients classified as having mild disease were inadequately controlled, compared to 94.5% of patients classified with severe disease. Relative to patients with controlled disease, patients with inadequately controlled disease were more likely to be unemployed, reported more frequent flares, and had a greater burden of symptoms and worse quality of life measures including itch, stress, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance (all p < 0.0001).

Conclusion: Despite the introduction of new therapies, the burden and impact of AD and lack of symptom control, although reduced compared with previous studies, still remains high.

Keywords: Atopic dermatitis; Burden; Disease control; Patient-reported outcomes; Quality of life.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Distribution of patients with inadequately controlled disease
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution in physician-reported symptom severity between inadequately controlled vs controlled patients
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