Measurement of Vital Signs for Skin Diseases

Patient-Reported Outcome Measures and Their Clinical Applications in Dermatology

With more disease- and symptom-specific measures available and research pointing to increased usefulness, patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) can be routinely used in clinical care. PROMs increase efficiency in healthcare, improve the clinician-patient relationship, and increase patient satisfaction with their care. PROMs can be administered before, during, and after clinic visits using paper-and-pencil, mobile phones, tablets, and computers. Herein, we combine available literature with expert views to discuss overcoming barriers and helping dermatologists incorporate PROMs into routine patient-centered care. We believe dermatology patients will benefit from broader PROM implementation and routine clinical use. However, a few major barriers exist: (1) cost to implement the technology, (2) selecting the right PROMs for each disease, and (3) helping both patients and clinicians understand how PROMs add to and complement their current clinical experience. We provide recommendations to assist dermatologists when considering whether to implement PROMs in their practices.

Expanding Personalized, Data-Driven Dermatology: Leveraging Digital Health Technology and Machine Learning to Improve Patient Outcomes

The current revolution of digital health technology and machine learning offers enormous potential to improve patient care. Nevertheless, it is essential to recognize that dermatology requires an approach different from those of other specialties. For many dermatological conditions, there is a lack of standardized methodology for quantitatively tracking disease progression and treatment response (clinimetrics). Furthermore, dermatological diseases impact patients in complex ways, some of which can be measured only through patient reports (psychometrics). New tools using digital health technology (e.g., smartphone applications, wearable devices) can aid in capturing both clinimetric and psychometric variables over time. With these data, machine learning can inform efforts to improve health care by, for example, the identification of high-risk patient groups, optimization of treatment strategies, and prediction of disease outcomes. We use the term personalized, data-driven dermatology to refer to the use of comprehensive data to inform individual patient care and improve patient outcomes. In this paper, we provide a framework that includes data from multiple sources, leverages digital health technology, and uses machine learning. Although this framework is applicable broadly to dermatological conditions, we use the example of a serious inflammatory skin condition, chronic cutaneous graft-versus-host disease, to illustrate personalized, data-driven dermatology.

The impact of hyperhidrosis on patients' daily life and quality of life: a qualitative investigation

BACKGROUND

An understanding of the daily life impacts of hyperhidrosis and how patients deal with them, based on qualitative research, is lacking. This study investigated the impact of hyperhidrosis on the daily life of patients using a mix of qualitative research methods.

METHODS

Participants were recruited through hyperhidrosis patient support groups such as the Hyperhidrosis Support Group UK. Data were collected using focus groups, interviews and online surveys. A grounded theory approach was used in the analysis of data transcripts. Data were collected from 71 participants, out of an initial 100 individuals recruited.

RESULTS

Seventeen major themes capturing the impacts of hyperhidrosis were identified; these covered all areas of life including daily life, psychological well-being, social life, professional /school life, dealing with hyperhidrosis, unmet health care needs and physical impact.

CONCLUSIONS

Psychosocial impacts are central to the overall impacts of hyperhidrosis, cutting across and underlying the limitations experienced in other areas of life.

Interpretation of Renal Quality of Life Profile scores in routine clinical practice: an aid to treatment decision-making

PURPOSE

High Renal Quality of Life Profile (RQLP) scores are associated with impaired health-related quality of life; however, the clinical meaning of the scores is difficult for clinicians and healthcare planners to interpret. The aim of this study was to determine clinical significance of RQLP scores which could be used to aid clinical decision-making.

METHODS

The anchor-based technique (a method for categorizing numeric scores to ease interpretation) was used to develop a categorization system for the RQLP scores using a global question (GQ). The GQ scores (i.e. no effect to extremely large effect) were mapped against the RQLP scores, and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was used to test their agreement. The RQLP and the GQ were administered to 260 adult patients (males = 165 and females = 95) with chronic renal failure (CRF).

RESULTS

The mean RQLP score was 67.2, median = 61, SD = 41.5, and range 0-172. The mean GQ score was 1.74, median = 2, SD = 1.27, and range 0-4. The mean, mode, and median of the GQ scores for each RQLP score were used to devise several sets of categories of RQLP score, and the ICC test of agreement was calculated. The proposed set of RQLP score banding for adoption includes: 0-20 = no effect on patient's life (GQ = 0, n = 35); 21-51 = small effect on patient's life (GQ = 1, n = 66); 52-93 = moderate effect on patient's life (GQ = 2, n = 87); 94-134 = very large effect on patient's life (GQ = 3, n = 54); and 135-172 = extremely large effect on patient's life (GQ = 4, n = 18). The ICC coefficient for the proposed banding system was 0.80.

CONCLUSION

The proposed categorization of the RQLP will aid the clinical interpretation of change in RQLP score informing treatment decision-making in routine practice.

Out of the skin of babes: measuring the full impact of atopic dermatitis in infants and young children

Valid psychometric instruments should be culturally adapted and refined with use. Neri et al. present an excellent example of this process for the Childhood Atopic Dermatitis Impact Scale. The work emphasizes that psychometric measurement continues to develop and reminds us that optimal care of children with atopic dermatitis requires considering its multidimensional effects on both the children and their families.

The Skindex instruments to measure the effects of skin disease on quality of life

Skindex-29 and Skindex-16 are validated measures of the effects of skin diseases on patients' quality of life. This article reviews the development of both versions of Skindex, discusses their measurement properties and interpretability, and gives examples of how they have been used and adapted for dermatologic research internationally. Studies of quality of life in patients with nonmelanoma skin cancer are described to illustrate the use of Skindex to understand quality of life and to compare effectiveness of different treatments for this highly prevalent condition.

Interpretation of quality-of-life scores

Patients' reports of their experience with illness are a key health outcome, but scores that measure these reports can be difficult to interpret. Skindex-29 measures skin-related quality of life reliably and validly. In this issue, Prinsen and colleagues compare patients' responses to "anchor" questions with their Skindex scores to derive clinically meaningful scores for the subscales of Skindex-29. The cutoff scores identify patients whose skin diseases severely affect their quality of life.

Testing and Reducing Skindex-29 Using Rasch Analysis: Skindex-17

The Skindex is a well-studied dermatology-specific health-related quality of life (HRQOL) instrument. The objective of this study was to test Skindex-29 using Rasch analysis and, if necessary, to refine it so that it would fit this item response theory based model. The Skindex-29 of 454 Italian dermatological patients was subjected to Rasch analysis to investigate threshold order, differential item functioning (DIF), and item and overall fit to the model. The Skindex-29 did not fit the Rasch model (P<0.001). The 5-point scoring system was re-grouped into three categories and demonstrated logical response order for all but one item. Rasch analyses of a combined emotion and social functioning subscale of Skindex-29 resulted in a 12-item psychosocial subscale. Five of seven items were retained in a symptoms subscale. Both subscales fitted the model (P=0.32 and 0.13, respectively) without significant individual item misfit or DIF (P>0.05). Classical psychometric properties such as response distribution, item-rest correlation, item complexity, and internal consistency of the two subscales of Skindex-17 were at least adequate. The Skindex-17 is a Rasch reduced version of Skindex-29, with two independent scores that can be used in the measurement of HRQOL in dermatological patients.

Significant impact of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma on patients' quality of life

BACKGROUND

Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) can have a profound impact on a patient's health-related quality of life; however, little is known about its actual impact. The authors evaluated patients' perspectives on the impact of CTCL on physical functioning, lifestyle, emotional well being, and satisfaction with treatment.

METHODS

A 4-page, self-administered questionnaire was mailed and made available online in March 2005 to the entire United States membership of the Mycosis Fungoides Foundation (n = 930 members). Outcome measures were patients' perspectives on the psychosocial impact of CTCL and the management of their disease.

RESULTS

The response rate was 68%, and 93.6% of respondents were white. The majority of respondents had mycosis fungoides (89%). Respondents were bothered by skin redness (94%) and by the extent of symptoms that affected their choice of clothing (63%). For most patients, the disease had a functional impact, rendering them tired or affecting their sleep. Health distress was reported by almost all respondents, with 94% reporting that they worried about the seriousness of their disease and 80% worrying about dying from the disease. Sixty-two percent of respondents reported that their disease made them feel unattractive, 85% reported that their treatment made their disease seem more manageable, but 61% reported that they felt burdened financially by their disease.

CONCLUSIONS

The high response rate and patients' responses to the survey provided compelling evidence that patients believed CTCL had a profound and severe impact on their functioning, emotional, and social well being. A striking health distress was prevalent in almost all respondents. Although the majority of patients reported that treatments made their disease more manageable, a significant proportion reported that they felt burdened financially by their disease.