Impact of Atopic Dermatitis on Adolescents and Families: A Mixed-Method Systematic Review.
Noelia Vicho-de-la-Fuente, Alba-Elena Martinez-Santos, Raquel Rodríguez-González and 3 others
PMID 39641467WHAT IT FOUND
Adolescents with atopic dermatitis and their families reported substantial daily-life burden, especially itching, sleep loss, school absence, bullying and emotional distress; the review proposes nursing education and support but does not test it.
Key findings
01The included studies reported that adolescents with AD had worse quality of life, more sleep disturbance, more school absence and more suicidal ideation than peers, with worse outcomes linked to greater severity and itching.
02Parents of adolescents with AD reported work absenteeism that increased with severity; one study reported 62.7% missed at least 1 workday and 25.2% missed more than 4 days in the last month when the adolescent had severe AD.
03Adolescents reported feeling emotionally misunderstood and lacking support, and one study found 70% of physicians asked about sleep but only 35% to 41% asked about school impact.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The review could not pool results statistically because the studies differed in culture, setting, design and measurement, so the overall picture is narrative rather than a precise effect estimate. Most included studies were cross-sectional or qualitative, so they show associations and experiences, not that AD caused the outcomes or that care would change them. Only seven of the 19 quantitative studies compared the population with AD with a control group, and age ranges varied, so some findings may be hard to compare. Four quantitative analytic studies did not specify whether the target population was representative, and in another two it was not. The search was limited to studies from the last 10 years, which may have excluded older relevant work. The nursing care plan is proposed from the review findings and was not tested in this paper.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The supplied text does not state who funded the work.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the proposed nursing care plan as evidence that nurse-led care improves quality of life or reduces the impact of AD. This review synthesised observational and qualitative studies of AD burden and did not test the plan.