Treatment Patterns and Burden of Atopic Dermatitis in Adults in the United Arabic Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey: A Real-World Study

INTRODUCTION: Understanding of real-world clinical practice for patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) in the Middle East is limited. We aimed to describe clinical characteristics, treatment patterns and disease burden for adult patients. METHODS: Data were drawn from the Adelphi Real World AD Disease Specific Programme™, a cross-sectional survey of qualified dermatologists and their patients in the United Arab Emirates, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar and Turkey between September 2022 and March 2023. Dermatologists reported patient demographics, clinical characteristics and treatment history. Patients reported the Patient-Oriented Eczema Measure (POEM), Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI), EQ-5D-5L, and Work Productivity and Activity Impairment questionnaire. RESULTS: Overall, 209 dermatologists reported data on 736 patients, of whom 437 self-reported data. Dermatologists subjectively determined that 200 patients had 'mild', 283 had 'moderate' and 253 had 'severe' AD at survey. Mean (SD) patient age was 28.8 (8.1) years; 50% were male and 50% female. Overall mean (SD) POEM scores were 9.7 (5.5), DLQI were 9.7 (5.5), EQ-5D-5L were 0.72 (0.29) and overall work impairment was 46.0% (22.3%). Majority were prescribed topical treatments (89%), 18% received systemic immunosuppressants and 13% received biologics. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlight the disease burden and need to use more efficacious treatment in the Middle East, to improve clinical outcomes.