Text Messaging and Atopic Dermatitis

Not Applicable

Completed

Brief Summary: Atopic dermatitis is a common problem faced by patients of all ages and backgrounds. Treatment regimens and specific therapies may be time consuming and multiple studies have documented a parallel decrease in compliance as time after an office visit increases. The adolescent population is an extremely challenging sub-group of patients in terms of complying with a treatment regimen. Not only are they striving for independence and thus lacking supervision of a regimen by a parent, but their complex thinking skills are immature, leading to forgetful behavior. By introducing a reminder system for these vulnerable patients that is easily incorporated into their daily lives, the investigators propose that patients will have better compliance at applying their medication and thus improving their atopic dermatitis. Text-messaging via cell phones has become very popular among teenagers and adults and provides a non-obtrusive method of sending a treatment reminder.

Detailed Description: We propose to conduct a randomized, controlled 6-week trial to evaluate the impact of a text message-based reminder program on adherence to health maintenance behaviors among adolescents diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis. After obtaining informed consent, subjects will be randomized into either an intervention or control group. Subjects in the intervention group will receive a daily text message with a tailored message regarding atopic dermatitis, while control group subjects will receive a weekly text message with information on local weather, sport or news without any reference to atopic dermatitis. Of note, the decision to send a weekly text message to the control group reflects the expectation that a message will be sent, although the frequency and content of the message will not be revealed.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria

Age 10-17 inclusive
Capable of giving informed consent/assent. Of note, all subjects will sign an assent form and parents will sign a parent consent form.
Diagnosed with Atopic Dermatitis by a physician (self report)
IGA score fo 2 or greater
Currently using at least one prescribed topical therapy for atopic dermatitis
Have a mobile phone capable of receiving text messages
Able to retrieve text messages from mobile phone
Able to adhere to study visit schedule and other protocol requirements.

Exclusion Criteria

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
Intervention group	Text message to cell phone	Subjects will receive daily text message reminder about their treatment for atopic dermatitis during the 6 weeks of the study.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in self reported medication adherence	6 weeks	We will assess the difference in number of missed doses of topical medication in the control group (weekly unrelated text message) and the intervention group (daily eczema-related text message group). All subjects will record missed doses via calendars (diaries). Those in the intervention group will be able to text on a weekly basis the number of days they forgot their medication that week.
Change in quality of life	6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in AD knowledge score	6 weeks
Change in health maintenance behaviors	6 weeks

Locations (2): Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Department of Dermatology
🇺🇸
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Children's Memorial Hospital
🇺🇸
Chicago, Illinois, United States

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