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. 2020 Aug 19;6(5):424-428.
doi: 10.1016/j.ijwd.2020.08.001. eCollection 2020 Dec.

A feasibility study of the burden of disease of atopic dermatitis using a smartphone research application, myEczema

Sheevam Shah  1 , Jacqueline M Kemp  2   3 , Joseph C Kvedar  3   4 , Lia E Gracey  1
Affiliations

A feasibility study of the burden of disease of atopic dermatitis using a smartphone research application, myEczema

Sheevam Shah et al. Int J Womens Dermatol. .

Abstract

Background: Our understanding of chronic diseases, such as atopic dermatitis (AD), could benefit from the ability to rapidly collect patient-reported, longitudinal data from a large population.

Objective: This study aimed to determine whether a smartphone app can be used to collect demographic and longitudinal symptom data and recognize prescribing patterns and affordability of medications to study the burden of AD.

Methods: We collected data using the myEczema smartphone app between July 2017 and April 2018. The data were de-identified and analyzed.

Results: A total of 519 users (94.2%) completed the initial demographic survey. The majority of users were female (n = 387; 70.2%) and Caucasian (n = 358; 65.0%). A total of 335 users (60.8%) had at least a university degree and were employed (n = 348; 63.1%). A total of 189 users (29.2%) reported difficulty affording their medications, and 363 users (65.9%) took advantage of the itch score recording feature. Finally, 184 users (33.4%) logged their treatments, with the highest number of users (65.2%) listing topical steroids as one of their treatments.

Limitations: The operating platform was limited to iPhones, and the results were subject to reporting bias.

Conclusion: A smartphone-based research app can be used to rapidly collect patient-reported data to study the burden of AD and to highlight the prescribing patterns and affordability of medications.

Keywords: Application; Atopic; Dermatitis; Eczema; Mobile; myEczema.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(A) U.S. distribution of users having difficulty affording their eczema prescriptions and (B) U.S. regions where patients reported being on systemic medications for eczema.
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(A) U.S. distribution of users having difficulty affording their eczema prescriptions and (B) U.S. regions where patients reported being on systemic medications for eczema.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of patient-reported atopic dermatitis emollients and medications.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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