PEST & POEM: The Eczema Patients’ Point of View

Measures of the severity of atopic eczema should always include the patients point of view

Atopic eczema in children can have a profound impact on quality of life of both the patient and the family.

Under-treatment of atopic eczema with standard topical treatment – moisturisers and topical anti-inflammatory creams – is an important cause for concern.

A recent Sheffield (UK) Dermatology Research study, demonstrating how a community-based nurse-administered educational programme to improve emollient use was not only effective but also cost-neutral, used a new simple measure, PEST [seegraphics above: the Patient Eczema Severity Time score] when measuring overall unhappiness associated with eczema, together with POEM, the Patient Orientated Eczema Measure.

To find out more about these important patient-orientated measures

PEST: See Mason et al. BMC Dermatology 2013, 13:7

POEM: See Charman et al. JAMA Dermatology 2004, 140(12)