BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: This report provides a summary of the third meeting of the Harmonising Outcome Measures for Eczema (HOME) initiative held in San Diego, California from Apr 6th to Apr 7th 2013 (HOME III). The meeting addressed the four domains that had previously been agreed should be measured in every eczema clinical trial; signs, symptoms, long term control and quality of life. METHODS: Formal presentations and nominal group techniques were used at this working meeting, attended by 56 voting participants (31 of whom were dermatologists). RESULTS: Significant progress was made on the domain of clinical signs. Without reference to any named scales, it was agreed that the intensity and extent of erythema, excoriation, oedema / papulation & lichenification should be included in the core outcome measure for the scale to have content validity. The group then discussed a systematic review of all scales measuring the signs of eczema and their measurement properties, followed by a consensus vote on which scale to recommend for inclusion in the core outcome set. Research into the remaining three domains was presented, followed by discussions. The symptoms group and quality of life groups need to systematically identify all available tools and quality rate the tools. A definition of long term control is needed before progress can be made towards recommending a core outcome measure. CONCLUSIONS: Significant progress was made in the signs domain to allow recommendation of a scale for the core outcome set. The remaining three domains of symptoms, long term control and quality of life need further work to progress further. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
ContributorsChalmers, J. R. Schmitt, J. Apfelbacher, C. Dohil, M. Eichenfield, L. F. Simpson, E. L. Singh, J. Spuls, P. Thomas, K. Admani, S. Aoki, V. Ardeleanu, M. Barbarot, S. Berger, T. Bergman, J. N. Block, J. Borok, N. Burton, T. Chamlin, S. L. Deckert, S. DeKlotz, C. C. Graff, L. B. Hanifin, J. M. Hebert, A. A. Humphreys, R. Katoh, N. Kisa, R. M. Margolis, D. J. Merhand, S. Minnillo, R. Mizutani, H. Nankervis, H. Ohya, Y. Rodgers, P. Schram, M. E. Stalder, J. F. Takaoka, R. Svensson, A. Teper, A. Tom, W. L. von Kobyletzki, L. Weisshaar, E. Zelt, S. Williams, H. C.
Disease Category: Skin
Disease Name: Eczema
Age Range: Unknown
Sex: Either
Nature of Intervention: Any
- Clinical experts
- Consumers (caregivers)
- Consumers (patients)
- Methodologists
- Pharmaceutical industry representatives
- Recommendations for outcome measures (measurement/how)
- Consensus meeting
- Nominal group technique (NGT)
- Systematic review