Collecting and summarizing research on people’s views of managing eczema

Eczema is a common skin condition that affects around one in five children and one in ten adults. Qualitative research uses methods such as interviews to find out people’s views and experiences. Pulling together the findings of qualitative research studies can make it easier to understand what lots of people commonly think about conditions like eczema and what they find easy or difficult about using treatments. This can help researchers find effective ways to support people managing conditions like eczema. This study, from the UK, aimed to pull together all available qualitative studies on the views and experiences of eczema and eczema treatments from people with eczema and parents or carers of children with eczema. We searched four online databases containing lists of research papers from academic journals covering medicine, nursing, healthcare and psychology. We found 39 research papers from 13 different countries. We used an analytical technique called thematic synthesis to pull together the findings of these studies. Our paper highlights four themes. (1) Eczema is not always viewed as a long‐term condition. People may unrealistically seek a ‘cure’ or not appreciate the need for long‐term treatment. (2) People with eczema and their carers find it frustrating that eczema is often seen by others as mundane, even though it can have a huge impact on daily life. (3) Hesitancy or concerns about eczema treatments made the condition more difficult to manage. (4) People often felt they received conflicting or insufficient information and advice about eczema treatments. Doctors could help people with eczema and their carers by addressing their concerns and understandings about treatment, acknowledging the impacts of eczema, and providing clear and consistent advice and information. Linked Article :  Teasdale et al . Br J Dermatol 2021; 184 :627–637.