Taking charge of eczema self-management : a qualitative interview study with young people with eczema

Greenwell, K; Ghio, D; Muller, I; Roberts, A; McNiven, A; Lawton, S; Santer, M

Abstract

Objectives: To explore young people’s experiences of eczema self-management and interacting with health professionals. Design: Secondary qualitative data analysis of data sets from two semistructured interview studies. Data were analysed using inductive thematic analysis. Setting: Participants were recruited from the UK primary care, dermatology departments and a community-based sample (eg, patient representative groups, social media). Participants: Data included 28 interviews with young people with eczema aged 13–25 years (mean age=19.5 years; 20 female). Results: Although topical treatments were generally perceived as effective, young people expressed doubts about their long-term effectiveness, and concerns around the safety and an over-reliance on topical corticosteroids. Participants welcomed the opportunity to take an active role in their eczema management, but new roles and responsibilities also came with initial apprehension and challenges, including communicating their treatment concerns and preferences with health professionals, feeling unprepared for transition to an adult clinic and obtaining treatments. Decisions regarding whether to engage in behaviours that would exacerbate their eczema (eg, irritants/triggers, scratching) were influenced by young people’s beliefs regarding negative consequences of these behaviours, and perceived control over the behaviour and its negative consequences. Conclusions: Behavioural change interventions must address the treatment concerns of young people and equip them with the knowledge, skills and confidence to take an active role in their own eczema management.

Citation

Greenwell, K., Ghio, D., Muller, I., Roberts, A., McNiven, A., Lawton, S., & Santer, M. (2021). Taking charge of eczema self-management : a qualitative interview study with young people with eczema. BMJ Open, 11(1), e044005. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044005

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Dec 9, 2020
• Online Publication Date: Jan 5, 2021
• Publication Date: Jan 5, 2021
• Deposit Date: Jan 12, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 12, 2021
• Journal: BMJ Open
• Publisher: BMJ Publishing Group
• Volume: 11
• Issue: 1
• Pages: e044005
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044005
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2020-044005
• Related Public URLs: http://bmjopen.bmj.com/
• Additional Information: Additional Information : ** Embargo end date: 05-01-2021 ** From BMJ via Jisc Publications Router ** Licence for this article starting on 05-01-2021: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ **Journal IDs: eissn 2044-6055 **Article IDs: publisher-id: bmjopen-2020-044005 **History: published_online 05-01-2021; published 01-2021; accepted 09-12-2020; rev-recd 01-12-2020; submitted 19-08-2020