A total of 324 patients and caregivers participated in the study. Most of the AD cases were initially diagnosed by physicians (80.6%), followed by self-diagnosis. Patients and caregiversthought that allergic substances, such as house dust mites, food, and pollutants, are responsible for AD development; moisturization, environmental control, and improvement of the body constitution are important for AD management. Allergy tests were performed in 194 patients (59.9%), but allergen avoidance strategy was instructed in only 81 subjects (41.8%). Major topical medications were steroids (81.8%) and topical immunomodulators (34.3%), while systemic medications were steroids (42.6%), antihistamines (36.4%), and cyclosporins (2.8%). One hundred eighty-one subjects (55.9%) had received complementary alternative medicine, including Oriental medicine. Many subjects desired to receive individualized management, use of specialized institutions for AD as well as evidence-based, effective, sustainable treatment.
CONCLUSION:
Our findings suggest that there may still be an unmet need for patients with AD in real practice. Personalized, evidencebased, and multidisciplinary approaches, including patient education, should be implemented for good outcomes.