• Ioannis Koutroulis, Katrina Petrova, Panagiotis Kratimenos, and John Gaughan.
• St Christopher's Hospital for Children, Philadelphia, PA, USA Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA, USA ioannis.koutroulis@drexelmed.edu.
• Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2014 Jun 1; 53 (7): 677-81.

BackgroundAtopic dermatitis prevalence has increased in the developed world in recent decades, and effective management is vital to improve patients' quality of life.MethodsA prospective, randomized, case-control study with a purposive sample of 28 children, aged 6 months to 10 years, diagnosed with atopic dermatitis. Participants received bathing instructions to be followed either daily or twice a week, with a follow-up duration of 2 weeks. Improvement of symptoms over time was measured using the SCORAD (SCORing Atopic Dermatitis) tool.ResultsOverall symptoms decreased significantly at follow-up compared with baseline (difference = 5.0938, confidence interval = 0.2116 to 9.9759) but the differences in scores before and after interventions were not statistically significant between the groups (difference = -1.0937, confidence interval = -5.9759 to 3.7884).ConclusionsThe frequency of bathing did not seem to play an important role in the management of atopic dermatitis. Clinicians should focus on the need for adequate skin hydration.© The Author(s) 2014.

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