title: A survey of bathing and showering practices in children with atopic eczema.
abstract: We evaluated the emollient use and bathing habits of children with atopic eczema (AE) managed at the paediatric dermatology clinic of a university teaching hospital, using children with noneczematous skin diseases as controls. Disease severity of AE in the preceding 12 months was evaluated by the Nottingham Eczema Severity Score. Three-quarters of patients with or without eczema preferred showering to bathing. Patients with AE were more likely to use bath oils than soap and to use emollients after a bath/shower. Review cases, however, were more likely to take a shower and for a longer time (10-30 min) than first-visit eczema patients. These habits did not vary with season or disease severity. Emulsifying ointment was the most commonly used agent for the bath/shower. Most patients applied emollient immediately after a bath/shower. However there were still significant proportions of AE patients who used soap (40% of first-visit vs. 27% of review cases) and who did not apply emollients after a bath/shower (25% of first-visit vs. 23% of review cases). It is important to determine whether this problem is due to inadequate patient education or whether other factors lead to poor compliance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Paediatrics, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Prince of Wales Hospital, Shatin, China. ehon@cuhk.edu.hk
authors.forename: K L E
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Hon
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Leung
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wong
authors.forename: H K
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: So
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: T F
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Fok
mesh_terms: D001494:Baths / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000628:therapy*; D004643:Emollients / Q000008:administration & dosage; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010349:Patient Compliance / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012648:Self Care / Q000379:methods*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D017592:Skin Care / Q000379:methods*; D012915:Soaps; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
chemical_list: D004643:Emollients; D012915:Soaps