Mild to moderate atopic dermatitis severity can be reliably assessed using smartphone-photographs taken by the patient at home: A validation study.

BACKGROUND: The use of photographs to diagnose and monitor skin diseases is gaining ground. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the validity and reliability of photographic assessments of atopic dermatitis (AD) severity. METHODS: AD severity was evaluated in the clinic by two assessors using the Eczema Area and Severity Index (EASI), SCOring Atopic Dermatitis (SCORAD), and Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA). Participants photographed the lesions with their own smartphone and completed a questionnaire about the extent of eczema the same day from home. The photographs were assessed twice with an 8 weeks interval by five dermatologists experienced in photographic evaluations. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with 95% confidence interval (CI) were applied. RESULTS: Seventy-nine participants were enrolled. The ICC between clinical EASI and photographic EASI was 0.88 (95% CI 0.81-0.93), and 0.86 (0.70-0.93) between clinical SCORAD and photographic SCORAD. Perfect agreement between clinical IGA and photograph IGA was observed for 62%, with the difference between the two never deviating with more than 1 score. The inter-rater ICC for photographic EASI and photographic SCORAD, respectively, was 0.90 (0.85-0.94), and 0.96 (0.91-0.98). The intra-rater agreements between the first and second assessments varied from 0.95 to 0.98 for photographic EASI, and from 0.86 to 0.94 for photographic SCORAD. CONCLUSION: There was high agreement between mild to moderate AD severity assessed clinically and based on smartphone photographs. Further, the photographic assessments can be reproduced with high reliability.

Remote Rating of Atopic Dermatitis Severity Using Photo-Based Assessments: Proof-of-Concept and Reliability Evaluation.

BACKGROUND: Digital imaging of dermatological patients is a novel approach to remote assessment and has recently become more relevant since telehealth and remote decentralized clinical trials are gaining ground. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to investigate whether photographs taken by a smartphone are of adequate quality to allow severity assessments to be made and to explore the usefulness of an established atopic dermatitis severity assessment instrument on photograph evaluation. METHODS: During scheduled visits in a previously published study, the investigating doctor evaluated the severity of atopic dermatitis using the Scoring AD (SCORAD) index and took photographs of the most representative lesions (target lesions) with both a smartphone and a digital single-lens reflex camera (DSLR). The photographs were then assessed by 5 dermatologists using the intensity items of the SCORAD (iSCORAD), which consists of erythema, oedema/papulation, excoriations, lichenification, oozing/crusts, and dryness (scale 0-3, maximum score 18). The mean iSCORAD of the photographs was calculated and compared with in-person assessments using Pearson correlation and Bland-Altman plots. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used for interrater reliability. RESULTS: A total of 942 photographs from 95 patients were assessed. The iSCORAD based on smartphone photographs correlated strongly with the evaluations performed in person (iSCORAD: r=0.78, P<.001; objective SCORAD: r=0.81, P<.001; and total SCORAD: r=0.78, P<.001). For iSCORAD specifically, a Bland-Altman plot showed a difference in mean score of 1.31 for in-person and remote iSCORAD. In addition, the interrater agreement between the 5 rating dermatologists was 0.93 (95% CI 0.911-0.939). A total of 170 lesions were photographed, and the difference in mean scores was 1.32, 1.13, and 1.43 between in-person and remote evaluations based on photographs taken by a DSLR camera, a smartphone without flash, and a smartphone with flash, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: In terms of quality, remote atopic dermatitis severity assessments based on photographs are comparable to in-person assessments, and smartphone photos can be used to assess atopic dermatitis severity to a similar degree as photographs from a DSLR camera. Further, the variation in how the dermatologists in this study rated the iSCORAD based on the photographs was very low.