Project description:BackgroundAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disease with a complex pathophysiology, necessitating strict therapeutic management. Over-the-counter products play a crucial role in AD treatment. The emergence of social media (SM) as a vast information source for skincare and healthy lifestyle has transformed its role from mere entertainment. This study aimed to explore the attitudes of AD patients towards SM as an information source for their AD products, understand their purchase behavior, and identify unmet needs.MethodsQualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted with AD patients recruited from a university hospital in Southern Germany and social media networks. The interviews took place between November 2022 and January 2023. The recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Mayring's qualitative content analysis.ResultsA total of ten patients (3 men, 7 women) aged 23-42 years were interviewed. Participants reported new perspectives in four categories: opportunities and advantages of SM as information source for AD products, risks and disadvantages, important aspects for patients' choice of AD products, and extent and purpose of SM use in selecting AD skincare.ConclusionsPatients exhibit diverse patterns of SM use when selecting daily products and critically evaluate the online content, demonstrating a greater trust in healthcare professionals or familial connections. Electronic word-of-mouth, disease severity and prior product experiences emerge as prevalent factors influencing patients' product selection. Furthermore, female patients express interest in complementary and alternative therapies as part of an integrative therapeutical approach. Understanding patients' needs and preferences regarding AD skincare can inform physicians in recommending more personalized therapies. Additionally, educational interventions on SM, addressing patients' questions and concerns with evidence-based information, hold the potential for beneficial outcomes.
Project description:IntroductionItch associated with atopic dermatitis (AD) has a profoundly negative effect on patients of all ages. Therefore, itch is a main target for AD therapeutic approaches, and treatments are perceived as beneficial when they achieve an itch reduction. In the absence of a validated scale for children aged 6-11 years that is suitable for assessing itch intensity in clinical trial settings, the Worst Itch Scale was developed.MethodsQualitative interviews, comprising concept elicitation and cognitive debriefing, were conducted to develop and evaluate the content validity of the Worst Itch Scale. Psychometric assessments used data from the LIBERTY AD PEDS phase 3 trial of dupilumab in patients aged 6-11 years with severe AD. These included test-retest reliability, construct validity, known-groups validity and responsiveness. Thresholds for clinically meaningful change were defined using anchor- and distribution-based methods.ResultsThe Worst Itch Scale consisted of two items asking about 'worst itching' experienced 'last night' and 'today'. Worst Itch Scale scores showed large, positive correlations with existing patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures of itch, and weaker correlations with clinician-reported outcome (ClinRO) measures assessing objective signs of AD. Improvements in Worst Itch Scale scores were highly correlated with improvements in other itch PROs and moderately correlated with improvements in ClinROs. The responder definition based on the primary anchor, a 1-point improvement in the Patient Global Impression of Disease, was 2.84. Supportive anchors produced response estimates ranging from 2.43 to 4.80 points.ConclusionsThe Worst Itch Scale is a fit-for-purpose (e.g. well-defined, reliable, responsive and valid) scale for evaluating worst itch intensity in children aged 6-11 years with severe AD. The within-patient threshold for defining a clinically meaningful response was a ≥ 3-4-point change in the Worst Itch Scale score.Trial registrationNCT03345914. Video: How can we reliably assess itch intensity in children 6-11 years with severe atopic dermatitis in clinical trial settings?
Project description:Heat waves are extreme weather and climate events that threaten public health by increasing morbidity and mortality. To reduce the health effects of heat waves, it is necessary to increase the knowledge level of the public, conduct awareness and protection activities and monitor these activity outcomes. The present study aimed to develop and validate a Turkish language scale of heat wave knowledge, awareness, practice and behavior for Turkish nationality. After item generation and creating dimensions, content validity analysis was performed. To evaluate the validity and reliability of the knowledge construct, the difficulty index, discriminant index and Kuder Richardson 20 (KR20) were used. The validity and reliability of the awareness, practice and behavior constructs were evaluated with exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, and Cronbach's alpha was used. The 15 items had a good difficulty, discrimination index and KR20 in the knowledge construct. The 14 items were yielded in EFA; 13 items were retained in CFA, and Cronbach's alpha values of 0.878, 0.768, 0.855, and 0.858 were obtained for total items, practice, awareness and behavior, respectively. Eventually, a Turkish language scale was developed that is reliable and valid for assessing heat wave knowledge, awareness, practice and behavior.
Project description:BackgroundChildhood atopic dermatitis can have a negative effect on caregivers' quality of life and stress levels due to the burdensome nature of its treatment. Given that the condition often emerges in infancy, atopic dermatitis-related stress also carries the potential to negatively affect the developing mother-infant bond. While it is plausible that atopic dermatitis has a negative impact on maternal-infant bonding, these relationships have not been studied directly. In light of this gap, the current study investigated the association between infantile atopic dermatitis and the maternal-infant bond using a mixed-method design.MethodsMothers of infants (< 19 months) with atopic dermatitis were recruited from social media and medical clinics between October 2021 and May 2022. Mothers with infants unaffected by inflammatory skin conditions were also recruited to serve as a control group. Participants were asked to complete questionnaires related to their demographics, child's health, and mother-infant bond. Multiple linear regression analyses were used to assess bonding quality among cases and controls. A subset of cases were also asked to participate in semi-structured interviews focused on infantile atopic dermatitis and the maternal-infant bond.ResultsThe final sample consisted of 32 cases and 65 controls. Scores on the impaired bonding and risk of abuse subscales did not significantly differ between cases and controls. However, mothers of infants with atopic dermatitis did report lower levels of caregiving anxiety (b = - 1.47, p < 0.01) and pathological anger/rejection (b = - 1.74, p = 0.02) relative to controls. Qualitative findings suggest that the topical therapies required to manage atopic dermatitis may strengthen the bond between some mothers and infants.ConclusionFindings suggest that atopic dermatitis does not have a negative impact on maternal-infant bonding and may actually improve bonds in some cases. In light of this finding, clinicians may leverage the potentially positive impact of atopic dermatitis-related caregiving on the maternal-infant bond to encourage caregivers to remain adherent to their child's topical treatments.
Project description:Heatwaves have long been recognised as a serious public health concern. This study was aimed at developing and validating a Malay-version of a questionnaire for evaluating knowledge, risk perception, attitudes, and practices regarding heatwaves. The knowledge construct was evaluated with item analysis and internal reliability. The psychometric characteristics, construct and discriminant validity, and internal consistency of the risk perception, attitude and practice constructs were evaluated with exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The 16 items in the knowledge construct had a good difficulty, discrimination, and reliability index of 0.81. A total of 16 items were maintained in EFA with Cronbach's alpha of 0.84 and 0.82, 0.78 and 0.84 obtained for total items and risk perception, attitude, and practice constructs, respectively. A total of 15 items were retained after CFA. The finalised model met the fitness indices threshold. The convergent and discriminant validity were good. This newly developed Malay-version KRPAP questionnaire is reliable and valid for assessing Malaysians' knowledge, risk perception, attitudes, and practices regarding heatwaves.
Project description:BackgroundThe Itch Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Skin Pain NRS, and Atopic Dermatitis Sleep Scale (ADSS) are self-administered patient-reported outcome (PRO) instruments developed to assess symptoms in patients with atopic dermatitis (AD). The objective of this study was to evaluate the psychometric properties (reliability, validity, and responsiveness) and interpretability thresholds of these PROs using data from three pivotal Phase 3 studies in adults.MethodsBREEZE-AD1, BREEZE-AD2, and BREEZE-AD5 evaluated the safety and efficacy of baricitinib in adults with moderate-to-severe AD. Clinician-reported outcomes and other PROs commonly assessed in patients with AD were used to estimate meaningful changes and evaluate test-retest reliability, convergent and divergent validity, known-groups validity, responsiveness, and meaningful change thresholds (MCTs) of the Itch NRS, Skin Pain NRS, and ADSS.ResultsThe test-retest reliability of the Itch NRS, Skin Pain NRS, and ADSS was evidenced by generally large intraclass correlation coefficients (> 0.7) in stable groups of patients between baseline and Week 1 and Weeks 4 and 8. Moderate-to-large correlations (r > 0.4) at baseline and Week 16 were generally observed between each measure and other PROs measuring the same concept, supporting convergent validity. Small-to-moderate correlations with clinician-reported outcomes demonstrated divergent validity. Each instrument was able to distinguish between known groups of disease severity as assessed using other indicators of AD severity. The responsiveness of the Itch NRS, Skin Pain NRS, and ADSS scales was demonstrated through significant differences in their change scores from baseline to Week 16 between categories of change in another PRO also from baseline to Week 16. Thresholds for interpreting meaningful change were estimated as - 4.0 for the 0-10 Itch and Skin Pain NRS items; - 1.25 for the 0-4 ADSS Items 1 and 3 and; - 1.50 for the 0-29 ADSS Item 2, these equivalent to moderate degrees of change.ConclusionsResults of this study demonstrate that the psychometric properties of the Itch NRS, Skin Pain NRS, and ADSS are good to excellent. These findings support the use of these instruments in daily assessment of AD symptoms in adults with moderate-to-severe AD. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov numbers: NCT03334396, NCT03334422, and NCT03435081.
Project description:BackgroundSleep disturbance (SD) is an important part of the burden of atopic dermatitis (AD), but patient-reported outcomes that are easy to understand and interpret in the target population have been lacking. A daily, single-item, self-reported SD 11-point numerical rating scale (NRS) was recently developed to assess SD for patients with moderate-to-severe AD, but its psychometric properties have not yet been described.ObjectivesTo assess the psychometric properties of the SD NRS in patients with moderate-to-severe AD.MethodsThe psychometric properties of the SD NRS were assessed using data from a phase IIb clinical trial in 218 adults with moderate-to-severe AD.ResultsTest-retest reliability of the SD NRS was substantial to almost perfect (interclass correlation 0·66-1·00) in participants who had stable SD or stable pruritus scores over 1 week. Baseline correlations were moderate to large (r > 0·30) between SD NRS and pruritus or sleep loss scores, but were small (r = -0·11 to 0·17) between SD NRS and EQ-5D-3L index and visual analogue scores, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Scoring Atopic Dermatitis, and Investigator's Global Assessment. The SD NRS could discriminate groups of participants in the expected direction according to different quality-of-life scores but not according to different clinician-reported disease severity scores. SD NRS scores significantly decreased as sleep loss, itch and quality-of-life scores improved. Analysis of meaningful change suggested a 2-5-point improvement as the initial range of responder definition in the SD NRS score.ConclusionsThe SD NRS is a reliable, valid and responsive measure of SD in adults with moderate-to-severe AD.
Project description:Background: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is caused by interactions between genetic susceptibility and environmental factors. Transmembrane protein 232 (TMEM232) is one of the genes strongly implicated in AD. Methods: In the present study, we aimed to investigate the association between AD with variants within TMEM232 based on maternal factors, including a history of allergic diseases, and sensitization to Der f. We performed a candidate gene association study involving the Cohort for Childhood Origins of Asthma and Allergic Diseases. Results: A single variant of the TMEM232 gene, rs17132261, was found to be significantly associated with AD. Subjects carrying the wild-type allele (C) of rs17132261 had higher total IgE than those carrying the variant rs17132261 (T). Multiple logistic regression analysis showed a statistically significant association between TMEM232 gene polymorphism and an increased risk of AD in one-year-old infants. Moreover, rs17132261 was associated with increased total IgE in infants with a maternal history of allergic disease. The group with the CC genotype showed a higher risk of developing AD compared to carriers of CT and TT genotypes when the mother had a history of allergic diseases or was sensitized to Der f. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that the TMEM232 risk allele, in combination with maternal factors, higher the total IgE, which could be a potential risk factor for AD.
Project description:IntroductionThis study aimed to investigate the knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of depression among university students.MethodsA cross-sectional survey was carried out across randomly selected universities in Shandong Province from October 25, 2023, to November 8, 2023. Demographic information and KAP scores were assessed through the administration of questionnaires. The reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed with a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.816 and the Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin measure of 0.894.ResultsThis study included 2448 university students, with 1489 (60.8%) females. The median scores for KAP were 20 (Interquartile Range (IQR): 17-21), 26 (IQR: 23-28), and 35 (IQR: 32-38), respectively. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that being a junior (odds ratio [OR] = 0.720, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 0.538-0.965, p = .028), senior or above (OR = 0.474, 95% CI: 0.325-0.691, p < .001), having divorced parents (OR = 0.618, 95% CI: 0.409-0.933, p = .022), having direct relatives with depression (OR = 0.710, 95% CI: 0.589-0.856, p < .001), and lacking intimate friends (OR = 0.344, 95% CI: 0.245-0.484, p < .001) were negatively associated with practice. Only having an attitude score of ≥26 (OR = 5.076, 95% CI: 4.230-6.091, p < .001) was significantly and positively associated with practice.ConclusionUniversity students had insufficient knowledge, positive attitude, and passive practice toward depression. Clinical interventions should focus on enhancing the understanding and management of depression among university students, particularly through targeted educational programs and support groups, to bridge the gap between knowledge and practice and foster a proactive approach to mental health care.
Project description:BackgroundModerate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic disease characterized by intense, persistent and debilitating itch, resulting in sleep deprivation, signs of anxiety and depression, impaired quality of life and reduced productivity. The Peak Pruritus Numerical Rating Scale (NRS) was developed and validated as a single-item, patient-reported outcome (PRO) of itch severity.ObjectivesTo describe the content validity and psychometric assessment (test-retest reliability, construct validity, known-groups validity, sensitivity to change) of the Peak Pruritus NRS, and to derive empirically a responder definition to identify adults with a meaningful change in itch.MethodsContent validity was assessed through in-depth patient interviews. Psychometric assessments used data from phase IIb and phase III dupilumab clinical trials and included test-retest reliability, construct validity, known-groups validity and sensitivity to change in patients with moderate-to-severe AD.ResultsInterview participants indicated that the Peak Pruritus NRS was a relevant, clear and comprehensive assessment of itch severity. Peak Pruritus NRS scores showed large, positive correlations with existing PRO measures of itch, and weak or moderate correlations with clinician-reported measures assessing objective signs of AD. Peak Pruritus NRS score improvements were highly correlated with improvements in other itch PROs, and moderately correlated with improvements in clinician-reported measures assessing objective signs of AD. The most appropriate threshold for defining a clinically relevant, within-person response was ≥ 2-4-point change in the Peak Pruritus NRS.ConclusionsThe Peak Pruritus NRS is a well-defined, reliable, sensitive and valid scale for evaluating worst itch intensity in adults with moderate-to-severe AD.