Monitoring atopic dermatitis using mobile-app based photography and surveys

Remote clinical research has potential to increase study diversity, reduce costs for researchers and participants, and increase efficiency of studies. This study evaluates the reliability and feasibility of using SkinTracker, a mobile application, for remote AD severity assessment through mobile-app based photography and surveys. This single-center observational study enrolled 28 participants (18 with AD and 10 healthy controls) in an eight-week hybrid clinical study. Participants completed bi-weekly tasks and submitted standardized skin photographs via the SkinTracker app, and clinic-based skin exams and digital single-lens reflex (SLR) photos were obtained at baseline and week 8. Eczema Area Severity Index and Investigator Global Assessment scores were assigned to the photographs by a grader. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to evaluate agreement between app-based, in-person, and SLR assessments for the 18 participants with AD. App-based AD assessment scores had excellent agreement with in-person scores, indicating the reliability of SkinTracker to assess disease activity remotely. Furthermore, all participants had high compliance and satisfaction with app-based activities, indicating that using SkinTracker for remote clinical research is achievable and even preferred by participants. Overall, these findings show that SkinTracker is both reliable and feasible for monitoring atopic dermatitis disease activity remotely.