The patient's path to AD: a study of patients adherence to therapy

Introduction. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin diseases. The prevalence of atopic dermatitis among children is up to 20%, among adults - 2-8%. According to the form, there are mild, moderate and severe AD. Over the past decades, there has been an increase in the incidence of AD, its course is becoming more complicated, and the outcome is becoming more difficult. In this regard, the search for new successful treatment methods, as well as a detailed analysis of the currently used treatment regimens, is an urgent task. Goal. Measure the distribution of patients with AD by type of course (mild, moderate, severe) with a description of the patient's path, including the most important moments of decision-making, drivers of switching, changes in therapy, the main groups of influence and identify the main information requests/needs of patients with AD.Materials and methods. The study involved 700 patients, including 96 patients with moderate to severe form and 116 with severe form. All patients were diagnosed with AD and had at least one exacerbation in the last year. The age of the patients was 18-60 years. Results. The data obtained show that patients with moderate to severe AD make up about 25% of all patients with AD, including patients with severe ad - about 5%. Antihistamines are most often used by patients with AD, and the drug in this category is most often referred to by patients as the “main” drug for AD. More than half of patients (60%) with moderate to severe AD have used systemic steroids and/or cyclosporins over the past year. Patients with severe AD are significantly more likely than other groups to use steroids and immunosuppressants. The recommendation of a doctor (most often - a dermatologist in a municipal clinic or a skin and venereal clinic) is the most significant factor determining the choice of a drug for the treatment of atopic dermatitis. Conclusions. The data obtained indicate the need to conduct special educational activities with patients such as “schools of atopic dermatitis”, informing patients about the features of lifestyle in AD, theoretical aspects of treatment and skin care.

Variability is not uniformly bad: The practices of psychologists generate research questions

The practices of economists increase experimental reproducibility relative to those of selected psychologists but should not be universally adopted. Procedures criticized by Hertwig and Ortmann as producing variable data are valuable, instead, for generating questions. The procedure of choice should depend on the theoretical goal: measure a known factor or learn what factors are important and need to be measured.

Double-Alternation Runway Performance as a Function of Inter- and Intra-Reinforcement Odor Cues

Two groups of 12 rats served as Ss in a three-phase investigation into the production and utilization of odor cues in the runway. Both groups were trained under double-alternation patterns of reward-nonreward with one group serving as start-box donor-odorants, while the second group actually traversed the runway. During the first two phases the run- Ss were water-reinforced, and the donor-odorants were food-reinforced. The reinforcement schedules for the run and donor-odorant Ss were positively correlated during the first phase and negatively correlated during the second phase. In the third phase both groups were food reinforced and the reinforcement schedules once again positively correlated. The results indicated that significant double-alternation patterning was shown by the run- Ss only in the goal measure during Phases I and II. However, significant patterning was shown in start, run, and goal measures during Phase III, suggesting the specificity of odor cues to deprivational states.