Objectives
Hand Eczema, hand and foot eczema, NRS, pain
DISEASE, FOOT ECZEMA
The aim of this prospective randomized controlled intervention study was to analyze whether a monitoring smartphone app combined with patient education would improve the quality of life and clinical outcome of patients with hand and foot eczema. The study app was developed specifically for this study. With the app, our patients were able to periodically measure Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) and Hand Eczema Severity Index (HECSI; modified version for foot eczema) scores, as well as the impact on activity and pain (both measured on a numeric rating scale [NRS]), and document the progression of their disease through photographs [Furthermore, the DLQI, HECSI, and NRS (for activity and pain) scores were assessed by the treating physicians during personal visits at weeks 0 (before the intervention), 12, and 24.The final aim behind the development of the app was to reduce waiting time for a physician’s appointment in case of an emergency by expanding teledermatological services for patients with hand and foot eczema and to allow precise self-monitoring by the patients.