627 - Family Impact of Atopic Dermatitis in Infants/Preschoolers in the EPI-CARE International Survey

Poster Number: 627
Publication Number: 627.200

Jonathan I. Silverberg, George Washington University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States; Eric L. Simpson, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR, United States; Stephan Weidinger, University Hospital Schleswig-Holstein, Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany; Ana B. Rossi, Sanofi-Aventis, Cambridge, MA, United States; Lysel Brignoli, Cerner Enviza, Paris, Ile-de-France, France; Chien-chia Chuang, Sanofi, Cambridge, MA, United States; Gaelle Bego-Le-Bagousse, Sanofi, Chilly-Mazarin, Ile-de-France, France; Ashish Bansal, Regeneron pharmaceuticals, Tarrytown, NY, United States; Ryan B. Thomas, Regeneron, Montclair, NJ, United States

Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) has a substantial impact on patients and may also negatively impact quality of life (QoL) of parents/caregivers’ of young children with AD.

Objective: We evaluate the impact on parents/caregivers of children aged 6 months to < 6 years of age with AD across 18 countries in EPI-CARE, an international, cross-sectional, web-based survey.

Design/Methods: Eligible children < 6 years had “diagnosed AD”, i.e. met all International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood criteria, parent/caregiver-report of physician-diagnosed eczema, and itchy rash affecting, at any time, the face (cheeks, forehead) and elbows to wrist or knee to ankle. AD severity was assessed using Patient Global Assessment, categorized over the last week by parents/caregivers as mild, moderate, or severe. Parents/caregivers reported the impact of their child’s AD on family QoL using the 10-item Dermatitis Family Impact (DFI) questionnaire (0‒30; higher scores indicate greater negative impact), and two standalone questions about the hours of AD-related care in the past week and missed work days in the past 4 weeks due to their child’s AD.

Results: 1,489 parents/caregivers (mean [standard deviation, SD] age, 32.1 [7.4] years; 62.8% female; 84.7% employed or self-employed) of 1,489 children (mean [SD] age, 3.0 [1.6] years) participated. Mean (SD) DFI scores significantly increased with AD severity (Table). 42.1%, 58.7% and 78.0% of parents/caregivers of children with mild, moderate, and severe AD, respectively, reported a mean DFI score of >10 (moderate/high alteration in QoL). Among all regions and DFI domains, significantly more parents/caregivers of children with severe AD reported “very much” or “a lot” of impact than parents/caregivers of children with mild/moderate AD. Parents/caregivers reported spending a mean (SD) of 8.0 (16.3), 13.6 (23.9), and 20.5 (27.6) hours on AD-related childcare in the past week for mild, moderate, and severe AD, respectively and  reported mean (SD) number of missed work days in the past 4 weeks due to their child’s AD were 2.6 (3.0), 4.3 (4.7), and 7.3 (6.5) days.Conclusion(s): AD in infants/preschoolers has a substantial and multidimensional impact on family lives. Although the burden increases with severity of AD in children, there is a high burden on parents/caregivers regardless of disease severity. These results highlight the importance of evaluating the broader impact of AD on parents/caregivers in addition to the patient-reported burden.
TableAD severity -assessed using the Patient Global Assessment (PtGA) *P < 0.05 vs mild and †P < 0.05 vs moderate.
AD, atopic dermatitis; DFI, Dermatitis Family Impact questionnaire; SD, standard deviation