PA26 Paediatric atopic dermatitis: correlation between Eczema Area Severity Index, quality of life and visual analogue scale severity scores reported by children and their parents, and in different age groups

Atopic dermatitis (AD) often has a significant impact on the quality of life (QoL) of those affected and their families. Validated QoL and visual analogue scales (VAS) are widely used in dermatology to measure the impact of this common disease. As part of a larger prospective study, we subanalysed data to look at the correlation between Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI) score, three different QoL scores and parental/child VAS scores for overall severity, itch and sleep disturbance. Data were analysed from 68 paediatric patients with AD (42 males, 26 females), aged 4–16 years (mean 10 years, 0 months). Patient age groups were subdivided into 4–8 years (n = 17), 8–12 years (n = 25) and 12–16 years (n = 26). Scores for EASI, Children’s Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI), Patient Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM) and Dermatitis Family Impact questionnaire (DFI) were measured, and VAS scores (0–10) were assessed for overall severity, itch and sleep loss. The mean EASI score for the cohort was 18.3, and comparable for all age groups: 4–8 years (17.6), 8–12 years (18.1) and 12–16 years (19.0). The CDLQI correlated with DFI (r = 0.72), POEM (r = 0.66) and overall VAS severity scores (r = 0.61). Further analysis by age group showed CDLQI correlated with POEM and DFI most strongly in younger age groups (4–8 years: POEM r = 0.86; DFI r = 0.77; 8–12 years: POEM r = 0.72; DFI r = 0.81) compared with older children aged (12–16 years: POEM r = 0.41; DFI r = 0.53). The CDLQI and VAS overall severity scores correlated consistently across age groups (4–8 years, r = 0.59; 8–12 years, r = 0.67; 12–16 years, r = 0.66). By comparing EASI with CDLQI scores, moderate correlation was found between the age groups (4–8 years, r = 0.39; 8–12 years, r = 0.53; 12–16 years, r = 0.46). Comparing EASI with the three VAS severity scores, we found poor correlation between EASI score and overall severity score (r = 0.24). This was most marked in the 4–8 years group (n = 17, r = 0.04) vs. the 8–12 years group (n = 25, r = 0.27) and 12–16 years group (n = 22, r = 0.33). Similarly, there was poor correlation between EASI and sleep loss score (r = 0.21) and itch score (r = 0.35) across all age groups. In our study, all of the existing validated QoL scores above correlated well with each other and across different age groups. The CDLQI and VAS severity scores also correlated consistently at all ages. There was poor correlation between EASI and VAS severity scores. This was more apparent in y