Correlations among steroid fear, acceptability, usage frequency, quality of life and disease severity in childhood XXXX .

@entity1 @entity1050 @entity484
UNASSIGNED: Topical corticosteroids (CSs) are the mainstay of treatment for @entity484 but @entity1050 and fears are prevalent and influence therapeutic efficacy. AIM: To quantify if CS acceptability and fear affect @entity1 ' quality-of-life (QoL). METHODS: @entity1 with @entity484 managed in the pediatric dermatology outpatient clinic of a university hospital were surveyed. Nottingham Eczema Severity Score (NESS) for severity, @entity1 's Dermatology Life Quality Index (CDLQI) for QoL, CS fear, acceptability and reported frequency of CS use were measured with quantified questions. RESULTS: CS fears were prevalent among parents and caregivers of @entity1 with @entity484 . Fifty-eight percent of parents reported general acceptability of CS as being very good or good, and many applied CS to their @entity1 regularly every week. However, >40% of parents reported CS fear "always" or "often", 41% reported that they "always" or "often" apply CS only when @entity484 got worse, 57% would discuss CS fear with their doctors, 30% would request CS-sparing medications and 14% "always" or "often" use traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Fears were predominantly interpersonal and less often iatrogenic in nature. Skin problems were the most concerned side effects of CS. CS acceptability, frequency of CS usage, CS fear and usage of alternative medications were independent domains in @entity484 management: CS fears correlated with CDLQI; CS usage frequency correlated with NESS and negatively with parental education; and CS acceptability correlated with parental education. Ordinal logistic regressions showed worse QoL was associated with more CS fear (odds ratio: 1.092 [95% CI: 1.023-1.165], p   =   0.008). CONCLUSIONS: The extent of CS fears is independent of CS acceptability, but correlates with @entity1 ' QoL. Desensitization of parental CS fears should be integral part of @entity484 education and therapeutics in order to improve therapeutic efficacy and @entity1 ' QoL.
