Lo score della dermatite atopica

Methods of assessing the objective severity of atopic dermatitis are required both in everyday clinical practice and in therapeutic trials. A scoring system should combine the assessment of objective symptoms such as the extent and intensity of the disease, subjective criteria such as itching and sleep disturbance, and quality of life measurement. To be suitable, a scale should also satisfy properties like validity, reliability, sensitivity, and ease of use. A remarkable number of scores for assessing the clinical severity and therapeutic outcome in atopic dermatitis have been proposed in recent years. In this paper the main atopic eczema severity scales are presented. The array of scales reflects the fact that no measurement tool is able to perfectly assess the disease state of a patient. Moreover, with the exception of the SCORAD index, the scores described in the literature require further adequate quality testing to confirm their usefulness.