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Published by the Association Française de l’Eczéma, the first edition of the Barometer of the care pathway for patients with atopic eczema was carried out on 796 patients affected exclusively by atopic eczema, with varying degrees of severity. A way to take stock of the care pathway of patients and the potential difficulties encountered in the face of this pathology and its management.
September 14 marks World Eczema Day. A very common dermatological pathology, it concerns no less than 2.5 million French people of all ages. To take stock of the medical care of all these patients, the French Eczema Association has just published its first barometer on the question and it plans to make it a regular meeting, every two years.
The general practitioner, the privileged interlocutor
Although it is a dermatological disease, a majority of respondents, 52% said they go to their general practitioner (on average 4 times a year) for their atopic eczema, regardless of the severity of the disease.
For 38% of respondents, their doctor will be a private dermatologist, whom they will consult twice a year on average. Finally, only 8.3% of respondents indicated meeting a hospital dermatologist for their pathology, generally in the case of moderate to severe dermatitis.
A consistent observation for Stéphanie Merhand, founder of the French Eczema Association: “the general practitioner remains the privileged interlocutor because of his simplified access compared to the dermatologist, nevertheless the specialist remains essential as when the eczema is more severe or affects parts of the body more difficult to treat such as the scalp, for example”.
Various treatments
Regarding treatments, unsurprisingly, the vast majority of patients (66.9%) use creams or ointments for local application. Patients requiring oral treatment or biotherapy injections remain in the minority with 28% and 8% of respondents respectively. “It is generally people with more significant consequences of their disease on their health, who are affected with a greater degree of severity”, adds Stephanie Merhand.
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An important therapeutic wandering
More surprisingly, 13% of respondents say they “manage on their own”, they do not consult any health professional for their illness. In addition, 2.5% say they never follow their doctor’s prescriptions.
We can easily make the link with the 33% of declarants who explain that they are “in therapeutic wandering” and find no treatment that suits them. “Most of the time, these are patients whose symptoms are poorly relieved and who end up giving up the very idea of treating themselves. says Stéphanie Merhand again. “Our role is to inform them, let them know that new treatments are coming on the market and that it is always possible for them to seek treatment.”.