Eczema Articles

About 20 percent of children in the UK have eczema and non-adherence to treatment is common and a major cause of treatment failure. Researchers from the Universities of Southampton, Hull and Dundee and Ninewells Hospital looked into the reasons for this, and what could be done to make a difference.

Their research "Managing childhood eczema: qualitative study exploring carers’ experiences of barriers and facilitators to treatment adherence" was released at the British Association of Dermatologists’ Annual Conference in Birmingham (July 3rd to 5th 2012).

The team found that barriers to treatment adherence included:

• Parental beliefs around eczema treatment (eg – worries about steroid creams)
• Time-consuming nature of applying various creams
• Child resistance

Exploring the latter the team found that parents and carers had developed a number of strategies to overcome child resistance including:

• Involving the child in the treatment
• Distraction
• Making a game of it
• Using rewards
• Disguising the cream or applying it to the child when asleep

However, these strategies were not always successful and in some cases resulted in reducing the frequency of applications. Some parents and carers also spoke about the negative impact that the conflict over treatment had on their relationship with the child and on the family as a whole.

Miriam Santer one of the authors of the report says

?Treating childhood eczema can be a huge challenge for some parents and carers, particularly if resistance from the child sets in. We hope that by highlighting some of the different strategies used to overcome resistance, these might inform some self-help guidance to support this group and lead to better outcomes for children with eczema.?