Validation of a Parent-Reported Diagnostic Instrument in a U.S. Referral Population : The Childhood Eczema Questionnaire

• Background/Objectives: There is a paucity of validated tools for diagnosing atopic dermatitis (AD) in very young children that do not rely on clinical evaluation. The Childhood Eczema Questionnaire (CEQ)-a diagnostic tool for AD in children younger than 2 years that a caretaker can complete-was recently validated in Sweden. The objective of this study was to validate the tool in a U.S. population. As a substudy, we added an additional question that was independently assessed. Methods: Children younger than 2 years old were recruited from a dermatology clinic. Their caretakers completed a questionnaire containing the original tool's three questions as well as a fourth question that increased the time frame measured from 1 week to 6 months. Questionnaires with all "yes" answers were considered positive and were compared with a dermatologist diagnosis of AD. Results: A total of 283 subjects were recruited. The first three questions (the original CEQ) predicted a positive diagnosis of AD with a sensitivity of 0.72 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.58, 0.82) and a specificity of 0.93 (95% CI 0.87, 0.95). In a separate analysis we included the first two questions and the fourth question and found that the sensitivity increased to 0.82 (95% CI 0.69, 0.90) with a specificity of 0.89 (95% CI 0.83, 0.93). Conclusion: This study validates a novel parental questionnaire for the diagnosis of AD in children younger than 2 years in a U.S. clinic population.

Ämnesord

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Pediatrik (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Pediatrics (hsv//eng)

MEDICIN OCH HÄLSOVETENSKAP  -- Klinisk medicin -- Dermatologi och venereologi (hsv//swe)

MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES  -- Clinical Medicine -- Dermatology and Venereal Diseases (hsv//eng)

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