“When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK
Objective: To inform the development of a core outcome set for eczema by engaging with people with eczema and parents of children with eczema to understand their experiences and understanding of the concept “eczema control”. Design: 37 participants took part in a total of 6 semi-structured online f...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Published: |
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd
2017
|
| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45600/ |
| _version_ | 1848797163251826688 |
|---|---|
| author | Howells, Laura Chalmers, J.R. Cowdell, Fiona Ratib, Sonia Santer, Miriam Thomas, Kim S. |
| author_facet | Howells, Laura Chalmers, J.R. Cowdell, Fiona Ratib, Sonia Santer, Miriam Thomas, Kim S. |
| author_sort | Howells, Laura |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Objective: To inform the development of a core outcome set for eczema by engaging with people with eczema and parents of children with eczema to understand their experiences and understanding of the concept “eczema control”.
Design: 37 participants took part in a total of 6 semi-structured online focus groups held in a typed chatroom with 5-7 participants per group. Three groups involved adults with eczema and three groups involved parents of children with eczema. Framework analysis was used for data analysis.
Setting: A community-based sample was recruited from across the UK via social media and email.
Participants: 19 adults aged 17-61 (15/19 female, 16/19 white) and 18 parents of children with eczema aged 9 months-17 years (9/18 female, 18/19 white).
Results: Four main themes were identified. 1) “Commonalities and differences in the experiences of control”: a reduction in symptoms such as itch and sleep loss characterised eczema control, but what level was acceptable differed across participants. 2) “Eczema control goes beyond the skin”: psychological factors, social factors, the constant scratching and the impact on everyday activities are a variety of ways an individual can be impacted. 3) “Stepping up and down of treatment”: participants’ stepped-up treatment in response to loss of control, but several factors complicated this behaviour. Control needed to be maintained after stepped-up treatment ended to be acceptable. 4) “How to measure control”: self-report was generally preferred to allow frequent measurements and to capture unobservable features. Although most thought their eczema needed to be measured frequently, many also felt that this was not always realistic or desirable.
Conclusions: Eczema “control” is a complex experience for people with eczema and parents of children with the condition. These experiences could have important implications on how long-term control should be measured in eczema clinical trials and clinical practice. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:59:30Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-45600 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:59:30Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group Ltd |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-456002020-05-04T19:15:42Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45600/ “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK Howells, Laura Chalmers, J.R. Cowdell, Fiona Ratib, Sonia Santer, Miriam Thomas, Kim S. Objective: To inform the development of a core outcome set for eczema by engaging with people with eczema and parents of children with eczema to understand their experiences and understanding of the concept “eczema control”. Design: 37 participants took part in a total of 6 semi-structured online focus groups held in a typed chatroom with 5-7 participants per group. Three groups involved adults with eczema and three groups involved parents of children with eczema. Framework analysis was used for data analysis. Setting: A community-based sample was recruited from across the UK via social media and email. Participants: 19 adults aged 17-61 (15/19 female, 16/19 white) and 18 parents of children with eczema aged 9 months-17 years (9/18 female, 18/19 white). Results: Four main themes were identified. 1) “Commonalities and differences in the experiences of control”: a reduction in symptoms such as itch and sleep loss characterised eczema control, but what level was acceptable differed across participants. 2) “Eczema control goes beyond the skin”: psychological factors, social factors, the constant scratching and the impact on everyday activities are a variety of ways an individual can be impacted. 3) “Stepping up and down of treatment”: participants’ stepped-up treatment in response to loss of control, but several factors complicated this behaviour. Control needed to be maintained after stepped-up treatment ended to be acceptable. 4) “How to measure control”: self-report was generally preferred to allow frequent measurements and to capture unobservable features. Although most thought their eczema needed to be measured frequently, many also felt that this was not always realistic or desirable. Conclusions: Eczema “control” is a complex experience for people with eczema and parents of children with the condition. These experiences could have important implications on how long-term control should be measured in eczema clinical trials and clinical practice. BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2017-11-01 Article PeerReviewed Howells, Laura, Chalmers, J.R., Cowdell, Fiona, Ratib, Sonia, Santer, Miriam and Thomas, Kim S. (2017) “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK. BMJ Open . ISSN 2044-6055 http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/7/11/e017731 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017731 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2017-017731 |
| spellingShingle | Howells, Laura Chalmers, J.R. Cowdell, Fiona Ratib, Sonia Santer, Miriam Thomas, Kim S. “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK |
| title | “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK |
| title_full | “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK |
| title_fullStr | “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK |
| title_full_unstemmed | “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK |
| title_short | “When it goes back to my normal I suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the UK |
| title_sort | “when it goes back to my normal i suppose”: a qualitative study using online focus groups to explore perceptions of ‘control’ amongst people with eczema and parents of children with eczema in the uk |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45600/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45600/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/45600/ |