Dataset Information

Management of patients with atopic dermatitis undergoing systemic therapy during COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: Data from the DA-COVID-19 registry.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Few and small studies have described the management of immunomodulant/immunosuppressive therapies or phototherapy in atopic dermatitis (AD) patients during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Methods

A national registry, named DA-COVID-19 and involving 35 Italian dermatology units, was established in order to evaluate the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the management of adult AD patients treated with systemic immunomodulant/immunosuppressive medications or phototherapy. Demographic and clinical data were obtained at different timepoints by teledermatology during COVID-19 pandemic, when regular visits were not allowed due to sanitary restrictions. Disease severity was assessed by both physician- and patient-reported assessment scores evaluating itch intensity, sleep disturbances, and AD severity.

Results

A total of 1831 patients were included, with 1580/1831 (86.3%) continuing therapy during pandemic. Most patients were treated with dupilumab (86.1%, 1576/1831) that was interrupted in only 9.9% (156/1576) of cases, while systemic immunosuppressive compounds were more frequently withdrawn. Treatment interruption was due to decision of the patient, general practitioner, or dermatologist in 39.9% (114/286), 5.6% (16/286), and 30.1% (86/286) of cases, respectively. Fear of increased susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection (24.8%, 71/286) was one of the main causes of interruption. Sixteen patients (0.9%) resulted positive to SARS-CoV-2 infection; 3 of them (0.2%) were hospitalized but no cases of COVID-related death occurred.

Conclusions

Most AD patients continued systemic treatments during COVID pandemic and lockdown period, without high impact on disease control, particularly dupilumab-treated patients.

SUBMITTER: Chiricozzi A

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8014537 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundThe TREATgermany registry collects data from children, adolescents, and adults with moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis (AD) in Germany. For this purpose, clinical and patient-reported outcomes, the course of the disease, and applied therapies are observed.MethodsTREATgermany recruits patients with moderate-to-severe AD according to the diagnostic criteria of the UK Working Party, an "Objective Scoring for Atopic Dermatitis" (oSCORAD) > 20 and/or currently antiinflammatory systemic treatment for AD or previous anti-inflammatory systemic treatment for AD within past 24 months before inclusion. No study related interventions will be performed. Currently, 59 dermatological practices, clinics, and university hospitals are participating in TREATgermany (as of May 2021). Based on the interim analysis of October 13, 2020, patient characteristics were described from 4,373 documented visits of adult participants (n = 1,025).ResultsThe mean age at inclusion in TREATgermany was 42 years, 57.7% of patients were men (n = 591) and 42.3% were women (n = 434). According to oSCORAD, 85.8% of those included suffered from moderate-to-severe AD. At baseline visit, 744 patients had already received one or more systemic treatments for AD (glucocorticosteroids n = 600, ciclosporin A (CSA) n = 307, dupilumab n = 98). 597 patients received dupilumab during their participation in TREATgermany, 134 patients received CSA.ConclusionWith the increasing number of recruitment centers (October 2020: 38 centers; May 2021: 59 centers), TREATgermany can continue to make an important contribution to health services research for patients with moderate-to-severe AD. The registry fulfills the methodological requirements of IQWiG for the collection and processing of healthcare-related data. With the successful and expected approval of further systemic treatments, these can be compared in terms of efficacy and safety in the future. In addition, with the recruitment of children and adolescents started in 2021, this patient group can also be observed.