RAPID

Status

Recruiting patients

Contact

rapideczematrials@nottingham.ac.uk

Lead Investigator

Professor Kim Thomas

Professor of Applied Dermatology Research & Co-Director of the Centre for Evidence Based Dermatology

University of Nottingham

What is the study about?

Eczema is an itchy, chronic skin condition that affects many people. People with eczema have many questions relating to skincare, washing and how best to use treatments. Whilst these questions are a high priority for patients, they are rarely the focus of large, high-quality randomised controlled trials.

This programme of research involves working with ‘citizen scientists’, which is an approach that encourages members of the public to design and conduct studies that answer questions of importance to them. Citizen science has been shown to make research more relevant to people from all backgrounds, encourages uptake of study findings and improves people’s understanding of research.

A community of eczema citizen scientists will be developed, who will prioritise the most important research questions to them and then help to design and conduct the randomised trials. Over a five year period, the group will aim to conduct at least 3 online trials.

The Eczema Bathing Study will test how often people with eczema should have a bath or shower to best manage their eczema. People will join the study by signing up on the study's website. Other trials will be developed as the programme continues.

Who can take part in the study?

People with eczema. For specific details of the individual trials, visit the trial website.

What is being tested in the study?

In the Eczema Bathing Study, weekly bathing (1 or 2 times per week) will be compared with daily bathing (6 or more times per week).

What is this being compared to?

In the Eczema Bathing Study, weekly bathing (1 or 2 times per week) will be compared with daily bathing (6 or more times per week).

What are we trying to find out?

In the Eczema Bathing Study, we are trying to find out whether weekly bathing is better than daily bathing for people with eczema in terms of participant reported symptoms over 4 weeks.