The Role of Moisturizer Containing Antiinflamatory Agent in Clinical Improvement of Atopic Dermatitis: A Double-Blind Randomized Clinical Trial

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic, inflammatory skin condition and has a variable natural course. AD can affect a person in their childhood before they seem to "grow out of it" but later in life they could develop sensitive skin. Therapy of AD is aimed at preventing recurrence, repairing damaged skin barrier, maintaining hydration of the stratum corneum, and overcoming inflammation. Topical steroids used in AD are feared to cause local and systemic side effects. Recent management of AD mainly emphasizes the use of moisturizers especially moisturizer that has anti-inflammatory agents. This study was aimed to analyze the role of moisturizer containing antiinflammatory agent in the clinical improvement of AD patients. This study was a double-blind randomized clinical trial. The inclusion criteria were patients aged 18-64 years with mild-moderate AD who met the criteria for the diagnosis according to the Hanifin-Rajka criteria, in good general condition and willing to participate in the study. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups, 16 people in the control group receiving moisturizer without antiinflammatory agents and 16 people in the intervention group receiving moisturizer with antiinflammatory agents. The clinical improvement were evaluated after 14 days of treatment, using Scoring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD) evaluation. There was a significant difference in SCORAD (p<0.05) in the baseline and day 14 in the intervention group (21.51 ± 3.42 to 16.25 ± 3.35) and the control group (19.96 ± 2.08 to 17.02 ± 2.04). There was also a significant difference in the clinical improvement in SCORAD outcome between both groups. The addition of antiinflammatory ingredients to moisturizer has been shown to make a significant difference in improving SCORAD outcome in mild to moderate AD patients.