Prescribing practices for systemic agents in the treatment of severe pediatric atopic dermatitis in the US and Canada: The PeDRA TREAT survey.

BACKGROUND

There is a paucity of literature to direct physicians in the prescribing of immunomodulators for patients with severe atopic dermatitis (AD).

OBJECTIVE

To survey systemic agent prescribing practices for severe childhood AD among clinicians in the United States and Canada.

METHODS

The TREatment of severe Atopic dermatitis in children Taskforce (TREAT), US&CANADA, a project of the Pediatric Dermatology Research Alliance (PeDRA), developed an online multiple-response survey to assess clinical practice, gather demographic information and details of systemic agent selection, and identify barriers to their use in patients with recalcitrant pediatric AD.

RESULTS

In total, 133 of 290 members (45.9%) of the Society for Pediatric Dermatology completed the survey, and 115 of 133 (86.5%) used systemic treatment for severe pediatric AD. First-line drugs of choice were cyclosporine (45.2%), methotrexate (29.6%), and mycophenolate mofetil (13.0%). The most commonly used second-line agents were methotrexate (31.3%) and mycophenolate mofetil (30.4%); azathioprine was the most commonly cited third-line agent. The main factors that discouraged use of systemic agents were side-effect profiles (82.6%) and perceived risks of long-term toxicity (81.7%).

LIMITATIONS: Investigation of the sequence of systemic medications or combination systemic therapy was limited. Recall bias may have affected the results.

CONCLUSION

Great variation exists in prescribing practices among American and Canadian physicians using systemic agents for treatment of pediatric AD.