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Quality of health care of atopic eczema in Germany: results of the national health care study AtopicHealth

2013; Wiley; Volume: 28; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/jdv.12154

1468-3083

Anna Langenbruch, Marc Alexander Radtke, N. Franzke, Johannes Ring, R. Foelster‐Holst, Matthias Augustin,

Allergic Rhinitis and Sensitization

Abstract Background The successful treatment of atopic eczema ( AE ) should result in the improvement of both physical symptoms and patient′s quality of life (QoL). This study was conducted using a sample of dermatologists throughout Germany. This is due to dermatologists being the main health care providers of AE . Objectives Obtaining reliable data on quality of care of AE from both the patient's and the physician's perspective. Methods This cross‐sectional study assessed: the individual clinical history; dermatology‐specific QoL ( DLQI ); state of health ( EQ ‐5d‐ VAS ); treatments; burden caused by disease and treatment; patient‐defined treatment benefit ( PBI ). Results Data from 1678 adult patients (60.5% female, mean age: 38.4 ± 15.9) were analysed. The most frequently used treatments during the last five years were emollients (90.4%) and topical corticosteroids (85.5%). In this study, 75.8% of the patients felt only moderately or not at all impaired by their treatment. The mean DLQI (0 = minimum–30 = maximum QoL impairment) was 8.5 ± 6.5. The EQ ‐5d‐ VAS (100 = best possible) was 63.6 ± 22.0 on average. 26.6% reported suffering ‘often’ or ‘every night’ from sleeplessness due to severe itching. Mean PBI was 2.4 ± 1.1 (4 = maximum benefit). Conclusions This study provides first data on the health care of adults with AE in Germany at a national level and reveals the need for a more effective care. Whereas most patients consider their treatment‐related burden as low, the daily burden of the disease seems to be high: one third reports sleeplessness due to itching which indicates insufficient therapeutic regimes in these cases. A better implementation of the German national guideline for AE and a systematic analysis of the difficulties causing its limited effects is needed.