article · Skin Health and Disease
Current epidemiological studies on atopic dermatitis suffer from a lack of standardisation across diagnostic criteria, disease severity measurements, sociodemographic factors, and burden reporting. These inconsistencies prevent direct cross-study comparisons, make pooled analyses difficult, and hinder the accurate assessment of the global disease burden. To resolve these challenges, the Epidemiological Study Designs for Atopic Dermatitis Research initiative has established a protocol to achieve international consensus on core measurement domains. The project follows a three-phase approach, beginning with a multi-disciplinary steering group of dermatologists, epidemiologists, and patient representatives drafting key items from existing literature. An international panel of diverse stakeholders will then evaluate these items using an online Delphi consensus technique, followed by an online consensus conference. This protocol aims to deliver a unified framework that standardises future population-based studies, improves research comparability, and provides reliable data to guide healthcare policy and clinical interventions.
Atopic dermatitis affects populations worldwide, but inconsistent research methods make it hard to measure its true impact or compare findings across different regions. By creating an agreed international standard for how studies collect and report data, health authorities and clinicians can access higher-quality, comparable evidence to improve clinical guidelines and target resources more effectively.
The abstract outlines an early-stage methodological protocol rather than a commercial product or service. If successfully completed, the resulting consensus guidelines could enable clinical research organisations, epidemiological researchers, and pharmaceutical companies to design standardised population studies and clinical registries. However, the abstract describes only the study protocol, indicating that the final consensus recommendations have not yet been produced or applied in practice.
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Background: Epidemiological studies of atopic dermatitis lack standardization in key areas, including how the burden is collected and reported, diagnostic criteria, sociodemographic factors and measurement of disease severity. Therefore, direct cross-study comparisons, recognition of population differences and pooled analyses are challenging or not possible. Consequently, the burden of atopic dermatitis remains difficult to assess and address. The Epidemiological Study Designs for Atopic Dermatitis Research (EPISTAR) initiative aims to reach consensus on which domain items should be recommended for future population-based epidemiological studies on atopic dermatitis and how they should be assessed. Methods: In phase 1, a steering group consisting of experts from dermatology and epidemiology as well as patient representatives will generate an initial list of items constituting key variables to measure. This list will be created by reviewing the existing literature, prioritizing evidence from systematic reviews where available. Phase 2 will include an international consensus exercise, conducted through eDelphi methodology. Phase 3 will involve an online consensus conference. In each Delphi round, international participants from diverse stakeholder groups will be invited to assess each item by rating their level of agreement with the item and methods by which it can be measured. Items that reach consensus will be removed after each round. Data analysis will follow predefined consensus criteria, with raw numbers, means and frequencies reported. Discussion: This harmonized approach has the potential to transform the field of atopic dermatitis epidemiology by addressing gaps in data quality and comparability, facilitating meta-analyses, and ultimately informing evidence-based policy and clinical guidelines.
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DOI: 10.1093/skinhd/vzaf047
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