Identifying Patients Likely to Have Atopic Dermatitis

Abstract

Background: A quick method to distinguish people who are predisposed to skin complaints would be useful in a variety of fields. Certain subgroups, such as people with atopic dermatitis, might be more susceptible to skin irritation than the typical consumer and may be more likely to report product-related complaints.

Objective: To develop a rapid, questionnaire-based algorithm to predict whether or not individuals who report skin complaints have atopic dermatitis.

Methods: A 9-item questionnaire on self-perceived skin sensitivity and product categories reportedly associated with skin reactions was administered to two groups of patients from a dermatology clinic: one with clinically diagnosed, active atopic dermatitis (n = 25) and a control group of patients with dermatologic complaints unrelated to atopic dermatitis (n = 25). Questionnaire responses were correlated with the patients’ clinical diagnoses in order to derive the minimum number of questions needed to best predict the patients’ original diagnoses.

Results: We demonstrated that responses to a sequence of three targeted questions related to self-perceived skin sensitivity, preference for hypoallergenic products, and reactions to or avoidance of α-hydroxy acids were highly predictive of atopic dermatitis among a population of dermatology clinic patients.

Conclusion: The predictive algorithm concept may be useful in postmarketing surveillance programs to rapidly assess the possible status of consumers who report frequent or persistent product-related complaints. Further refinement and validation of this concept is planned with samples drawn from the general population and from consumers who report skin complaints associated with personal products.