Medication-related perceptions of children and adolescents with severe asthma and moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: a non-interventional exploratory study

Abstract

Background: Severe asthma and moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis can significantly impact the lives of children and adolescents. However, real-world data on pediatric patients' perceptions of their medication are limited.

Methods: This non-interventional cross-sectional study at a university hospital explored patients' perceptions. We included patients aged between 6 and 17 with severe asthma and/or moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis. For patients treated with dupilumab, a minimum dupilumab treatment duration of 16 weeks was required. We conducted one structured interview per patient, based on a questionnaire consisting of open questions and ratings on 6-point Likert scales (response scale range: "0: not at all" to "5: very strongly").

Results: The study included 57 participants (severe asthma: n = 31; moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis: n = 21; both: n = 5) who reported a "rather moderate" burden of asthma (median: 2; Q25/Q75: 0.3/2.8) or atopic dermatitis (3; 1.5/3.5). They experienced their current medications as "rather helpful" (asthma: 4; 3/5; atopic dermatitis: 4; 3/5). Twelve of the participants (21%) reported refusing to take their medication because of reluctance, but all resumed treatment. All participants receiving dupilumab therapy (n = 16) reported an improvement in their disease within a maximum of 2.5 months after starting treatment. The median fear of injection decreased from 3 (0/5) before the first injection to 0.5 (0/1) at the time of the survey.

Conclusions: In this real-world, interview-based study, we found that pediatric patients perceived treatment as highly beneficial for asthma and atopic dermatitis. Furthermore, pediatric patients seemed to respond well to dupilumab therapy in terms of both disease improvement and less fear of injection.

Trial registration: DRKSID DRKS00028092.

Keywords: Antibodies, monoclonal; Asthma; Dermatitis, atopic; Drug therapy; Pediatrics.

Fig. 1

Patient enrolment flowchart

Fig. 2

Participants’ individual SCORing Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) values before initiating dupilumab treatment and at the time of the interview are shown. A SCORAD > 50 is defined as severe, 25–50 as moderate and < 25 as mild atopic dermatitis [40]. SCORAD data were available from 14 of 15 participants with atopic dermatitis and current dupilumab therapy

Fig. 3

Participants’ perceptions of their diseases before and during dupilumab therapy (i.e., at the time of the interview). Data from 16 participants receiving dupilumab therapy for at least 16 weeks were analyzed. Boxplots show median, interquartile ranges (Q25/Q75) and whiskers extending to 1.5x interquartile range (Response Scale: 0 - not at all; 1 - very little; 2 - rather little; 3 - moderately; 4 - rather strongly; 5 - very strongly)