title: Increasing Adherence with Topical Agents for Atopic Dermatitis.
abstract: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is an intensely pruritic dermatosis that develops most commonly during early infancy and childhood and may follow a chronic, relapsing course into adulthood. As a chronic disease, AD requires treatment over an extended period of time, and is therefore difficult to treat. The main difficulty stems from poor adherence to treatment by patients for reasons such as frustration with medication efficacy, inconvenience, and fear of side effects. Methods that improve adherence include creating therapeutic plans with patient preferences in mind, early follow-up visit, increasing patient education through workshops, and discussing with patients and their caretakers their fears about treatment methods. AD can be exceedingly detrimental to a patient's quality of life. Simple measures to improve adherence may improve patients' treatment outcomes and quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Nupur U
authors.initials: NU
authors.lastname: Patel
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Veronica
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: D'Ambra
authors.affiliation: Center for Dermatology Research, Department of Dermatology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. sfeldman@wakehealth.edu.|Department of Pathology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. sfeldman@wakehealth.edu.|Department of Public Health Sciences, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA. sfeldman@wakehealth.edu.
authors.forename: Steven R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Feldman
mesh_terms: D003876:Dermatitis, Atopic / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D003879:Dermatologic Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D055118:Medication Adherence; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods; D057240:Patient Preference; D011788:Quality of Life; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D003879:Dermatologic Agents