405 Understanding patient experience and factors influencing patient preference in the treatment of moderate-to-severe atopic dermatitis through in-depth qualitative patient interviews

Abstract

Abstract Atopic dermatitis (AD) can enormously affect the lives of patients and their caregivers. Treatments for moderate-to-severe AD include phototherapy, topical and systemic corticosteroids, other immunosuppressive agents and biologic therapies. These treatments offer varied levels of efficacy, safety, response times and modes of administration. Patient preferences for these treatment options and attributes influencing their treatment choice are not well characterized. This qualitative interview-based study evaluated treatment attributes important to adult patients with moderate-to-severe AD providing a basis for a future quantitative discrete choice experiment (DCE). Semi-structured interviews were conducted in adults (≥18 years) recruited via a panel of geographically and demographically diverse patients with AD in the USA. Inclusion required (i) diagnosis of AD for at least one year, (ii) inadequate response to prior topical therapy and (iii) self-reported moderate-to-severe AD or experience with systemic therapy. One-on-one, in-depth 60-min phone interviews were conducted by a trained interviewer in AD real-word evidence studies. Subjects with experience with systemic therapy for AD were queried concerning their involvement in initiating, logistics of and general experience with their most recent systemic treatment. Finally, participants were asked to rate the importance (on a 1–5 scale with 5 being the most important) of 17 attributes that could play a role in their treatment decision-making; these attributes were identified from a targeted literature review and expert dermatologist clinical input. Attributes included treatment efficacy, adverse events and treatment logistics. Interviews are ongoing, and results will be ready and presented in the poster upon acceptance. Findings from the interviews will shed light on recent patient experience with treatments for moderate-to-severe AD and elucidate the treatment attributes that most impact patient treatment preferences. These results will guide the design of a subsequent DCE survey, which will help quantify the relative importance of the treatment attributes identified herein.