ADCT – a simple tool for self-diagnosis of patients with severe atopic dermatitis
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory disease not only of childhood. It can negatively affect the quality of life despite being treatable. Control and management of the disease in different areas of life can be easily evaluated using the ADCT questionnaire.
What is ADCT?
Atopic Dermatitis Control Tool (ADCT) is a brief and easily evaluable validated questionnaire (downloadable here in PDF format) that helps patients and their doctors assess the management of atopic dermatitis (not only) during treatment. Its validity and reliability were tested and confirmed in the USA in 2 studies, involving 270 patients diagnosed with AD using prescription treatment within the last 6 months (excluding oral antihistamines or oral antibiotics).
Use in clinical practice
Based on interviews with patients and doctors, 6 areas critical for assessing disease management in the past week were identified. The patient must fill out the questionnaire, either at home or during a routine check-up, and in it, respond (or choose the most appropriate answer) to 6 simple questions concerning:
- overall severity of AD symptoms (e.g., itching, dry skin, skin rash);
- frequency of episodes of intense itching due to AD;
- extent of difficulties associated with AD;
- frequency of issues with falling asleep or maintaining sleep due to AD;
- impact of AD on daily activities;
- impact of AD on mood and emotions.
Each question is rated 0–4 points. The sum of points from all 6 questions forms the total ADCT score (0–24 points).
Interpretation
ADCT can be used to assess the condition in the past week, with higher scores indicating a lower degree of disease control. The patient's AD may not be well managed if:
- the total score is ≤ 7 points;
- one of the patient's responses falls into the blue-highlighted area of the table.
The questionnaire can also be used to assess changes in the level of disease control over time. A change of 5 points is considered significant: a decrease by ≥ 5 points indicates clinical improvement, while an increase by ≥ 5 points indicates clinical worsening of AD.
Conclusion
ADCT is a simple tool designed to enable meaningful discussion between the patient and the doctor on the topic of atopic dermatitis management in everyday clinical practice and improve disease monitoring.
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Source: ADCT – Tool for Managing Atopic Dermatitis. Atopic Dermatitis Control Tool_Version 1. Information brochure for doctors and patients. Sanofi Group, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc., January 29, 2020.
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