Effect of standard medication on quality of life of patients with atopic dermatitis.

Patients with atopic dermatitis present with debilitating symptoms, including pruritus and subsequent excoriation, which significantly reduces their quality of life (QOL). At present, the standard therapy for atopic dermatitis constitutes a topical steroid and/or a topical immunomodulator, an emollient and an oral antihistamine, although few studies have reported the effect of this treatment regimen on QOL. The current study aimed to verify the efficacy of the standard therapy for both clinical symptom severity and patient QOL, assessed using the validated Skindex-16 questionnaire. Atopic dermatitis patients receiving the standard therapy (n=771) were enrolled in the current phase IV, multicenter, 12-week, open-label study. The Rajka and Langeland scale (used to rate the severity of atopic dermatitis symptoms) and the Skindex-16 QOL questionnaire were completed at weeks 0 (baseline), 4 and 12. Of 415 patients completing the questionnaire at all time points (per-protocol population), 95.2% were prescribed the antihistamine fexofenadine HCl 60 mg. There were significant improvements in symptoms, emotions and functioning scale scores at weeks 4 and 12 compared with baseline (P<0.005). Discomfort associated with itching, as assessed by item 1 on the Skindex-16, improved over the treatment period (score decreased by >or=1 and >or=2 in 75.2% and 50.9% of patients, respectively). Significant (P<0.005) improvements from baseline in global scores were also observed at weeks 4 and 12, and for week 12 compared with week 4. Severity scores improved significantly (P<0.005) from weeks 0-4 and from weeks 4-12. The standard therapy was generally well tolerated with only mild adverse events reported (0.5%). These data suggest that patients with atopic dermatitis and associated pruritus experience significant improvements in both symptom severity and QOL when receiving standard therapy.